Part 15

“And now, Gentlemen, on this serious day, when I come, as it were, to make up my account with you, let me take to myself some degree of honest pride on the nature of the charges that are against me. I do not here stand before you accused of venality or of neglect of duty. It is not said, that, in the long period of my service, I have in a single instance sacrificed the slightest of your interests to my ambition or to my fortune. It is not alleged, that, to gratify any anger or revenge of my own or of my party, I have had a share in wronging or oppressing any description of men, or any one man in any description. No! the charges against me are all of one kind,--that I have pushed the principles of general justice and benevolence too far,--further than a cautious policy would warrant, and further than the opinions of many would go along with me. In every accident which may happen through life, in pain, in sorrow, in depression, and distress, I will call to mind this accusation, and be comforted.”[114]

Among the passages in eloquence which can never die, I know none more beautiful or heroic. If I invoke its protection, it is with the consciousness, that, however unlike in genius and fame, I am not unlike its author in the accusations to which I have been exposed.

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Fellow-citizens, a year has passed since I addressed you; but, during this time, what events for warning and encouragement! Amidst vicissitudes of war, the cause of Human Freedom has steadily and grandly advanced,--not, perhaps, as you could desire, yet it is the only cause which has not failed. Slavery and the Black Laws all abolished in the national capital; Slavery interdicted in all the national territory; Hayti and Liberia recognized as independent republics in the family of nations; the slave-trade placed under the ban of a new treaty with Great Britain; all persons in the military and naval service prohibited from returning slaves, or sitting in judgment on the claim of a master; the slaves of Rebels emancipated by coming within our lines; a tender of compensation for the abolition of Slavery: such are some of Freedom’s triumphs in the recent Congress. Amidst all doubts and uncertainties of the present hour, let us think of these things and be comforted. I cannot forget, that, when I last spoke to you, I urged the liberation of the slaves of Rebels, and especially that our officers should not be permitted to surrender back to Slavery any human being seeking shelter within our lines; and I further suggested, if need were, a Bridge of Gold for the retreating Fiend. And now all that I then proposed is embodied in the legislation of the country as the supreme law of the land.

* * * * *

It was as _a military necessity_ that I urged these measures; it is as a military necessity that I now uphold them, and insist upon their completest and most generous execution, so that they shall have the largest scope and efficacy. Not as Abolitionist, not as Antislavery man, not even as philanthropist,--if I may claim that honored name,--do I now speak. I forget, for the moment, all the unutterable wrong of Slavery, and all the transcendent blessings of Freedom; for they do not belong to this argument. I think only of my country menaced by rebellion, and ask how it shall be saved. But I have no policy, no theory, no resolutions to support,--nothing which I will not gladly abandon, if you will show me anything better.

“If you know better rules than these, be free, Impart them; but if not, use these with me.”[115]

And now, what is the object of the war? This question is often asked, and the answer is not always candid. It is sometimes said that it is to abolish Slavery. Here is a mistake, or a misrepresentation. It is sometimes said, in cant language, that the object is “the Constitution as it is and the Union as it was.” Here is another mistake or misrepresentation, which becomes more offensive when it is known that by “the Constitution as it is” is meant simply the right to hold and hunt slaves, and by “the Union as it was” is meant those halcyon days of Proslavery Democracy, when the ballot-box was destroyed in Kansas, when freedom of debate was menaced in the Senate, and when chains were put upon the Boston Court-House. Not for any of these things is this war waged. Not to abolish Slavery or to establish Slavery, but simply to put down the Rebellion. And here the question occurs, How can this object be best accomplished?

In discussing this question with proper frankness, I shall develop and vindicate that policy of which the President’s Proclamation is the herald, and to which his Administration is publicly pledged. The Administration belongs to us, and we belong to the Administration. My aim is to bring the Administration and the people nearer together, by showing the ground on which they must meet, for the sake of the Republic, and that it may not perish beneath felon blows.

* * * * *

I start, of course, with the assumption, in which you will all unite, that this war must be brought to a close. It must not be allowed to drag its slow length along, bloody, and fruitless except with death. Lives enough have been sacrificed, graves enough have been filled, homes enough have been emptied, patriot soldiers enough have been sent back halt and maimed with one leg or one arm, tears enough have been shed. Nor is this all; treasure enough has been expended. It is common to think only of the national debt, now swelling to unnatural proportions; but this will be small by the side of the fearful sum-total of loss from destruction of property, derangement of business, and change of productive to unproductive industry. Even if we do not accept the conclusions of an ingenious calculator who places this damage at ten thousand millions of dollars, we must confess that it is an immensity, which, like the numbers representing sidereal distances, the imagination refuses to grasp. To stop this infinity of waste there must be peace; to stop this cruel slaughter there must be peace. In the old wars between King and Parliament, which rent England, the generous Falkland cried from his soul, “_Peace! peace!_” and history gratefully records his words. Never did he utter this cry with more earnestness than I do now. But how shall the blessing be secured?

* * * * *

I start with the further assumption, that there can be no separation of these States. Foreign nations may predict what Rebels threaten, but this result is now impossible. Pray, good Sirs, where will you run the boundary line? Shall it be the cotton limit? Shall it embrace Virginia in whole or part? How about Tennessee? Kentucky? Or shall it be the most natural line of cleavage, the slave line? And how will you adjust the navigation of the Mississippi, and the whole question of Slavery? And what principles, commercial and political, shall be established between the two Governments? But do not deceive yourselves into the idea that peace founded on separation can be anything but a delusion and a snare. Separation is interminable war, “never ending, still beginning,”--worse than the forays which ravaged the Scottish border, or the Tartar invasions which harassed China until its famous wall was built, fifteen hundred miles long, and so thick that six horsemen ride upon it abreast. War will be chronic, and we must all sleep on our arms. Better that it be all at once, rather than diffused over a generation. If blood must be shed, better for a year than for an age.

But if there be anything in the Monroe doctrine, if we could not accommodate ourselves to the foothold of Europe upon this continent, how can we recognize on our borders a malignant Slave empire, with Slavery as its boasted corner-stone, constituting what Shakespeare calls “an impudent nation,” embittered and enraged against us, without law, without humanity, and without morals,--a mighty Blue-Beard’s Chamber,--an enormous House of Ill-Fame? We would not allow the old Kingdom of the Assassins to be revived at our side. But wherein are our Rebels better?

* * * * *

Nor can you recognize such separation without delivering over this cherished Union to chaos. If the Rebel States are allowed to go, what can be retained? It is true, there can be no constitutional right to break up the Constitution, but the precedent unhappily recognized would unsettle this whole fabric of States. Therefore, fellow-citizens, there can be no separation. But how to prevent it,--in other words, how to hamstring the Rebellion and conquer a peace,--this is the question.

* * * * *

The Rebels are in arms, aroused, at home, on their own soil, and resolved never to yield. Nothing less than independence will satisfy them: if the war continues, I know not that they will be content with this. Two policies are presented on our side,--one looking primarily to Rebel conciliation, and the other looking primarily to Rebel submission. Both have the same elements, although in diverse order. The first begins with conciliation in order to end with Rebel submission, which is cart before horse. The second begins with Rebel submission in order to end with conciliation. The question is simply this,--Whether conciliation shall precede or follow submission? Conciliation is always proper, where possible; but, at this stage, it is obviously impossible. If anybody believes that now any word or act of conciliation, any forbearance on our part, any hesitation in exercise of the sternest Rights of War, will help us to victory or contribute to put down the Rebellion, let me not enter into that man’s counsels, for they can end in nothing but shame and disaster. I find that they who talk most against coercion of Rebels and coercion of States are indifferent to the coercion of four million people, men, women, and children, to work without wages under discipline of the lash. Without hesitation I say that the Rebels must be subdued,--call it coercion or subjugation, whichever you please: our war has this direct object. With victory will come conciliation, clemency, amnesty. But first victory.

To obtain victory, two things are needed: first, a precise comprehension of the case, and, secondly, vigor of conduct. One will not do without the other. It will not be enough to comprehend the case, unless you are ready to treat it with corresponding vigor. And it will not be enough to have vigor, unless you discern clearly how the case shall be treated. To this end there must be statesmen as well as generals.

* * * * *

The first duty of the good physician is to understand the condition of his patient,--whether it is a case of medicine or surgery, of cutaneous eruption or deep-seated cancer. This is called diagnosis. Of course, if this fails, the whole treatment will be a failure. But the statesman, in all the troubles of his country, has the same preliminary duty. He, too, must see whether it is a case for medicine or surgery, of cutaneous eruption or deep-seated cancer. And since all that he does must be precisely according to his judgment of the case, error here must be equally fatal.

* * * * *

Next to comprehension of the case is vigor in conduct, which is more needful in proportion as the case becomes desperate. This must be not only in the field, but also in council,--not only against the serried front of the enemy, but against those more fatal influences that come from lack of comprehension or lack of courage. The same vigor we require in our generals must be required also in our statesmen,--the same spirit must animate both. No folding of the hands, no putting off till to-morrow what can be done to-day, no hesitation, no timidity, but _action_, _action_, _action_, straightforward, manly, devoted action. It is easy to see that this is required in the field; but it is no less required in every sphere of the Government, from President to paymaster.

* * * * *

In war there are some who content themselves with triumphs of prudence instead of triumphs of courage, and spend much time in trying how not to be beaten, instead of how to beat. They are content to forego victory, if they can escape defeat, forgetting that Fabius was only a defender and not a conqueror, that a policy fit at one time may be unfit at another, that a war waged in an enemy’s country cannot be defensive, nor can it prevail by any procrastination. People at home, on their own soil, can afford to wait. Every month, every week, every day is an ally. But we cannot wait. No moment must be spared. Not in this way battled those ancient commanders called “The Two Thunderbolts of War.” Not in this way did Napoleon defeat the Austrian forces at Marengo, and shatter the Prussian power on the field of Jena.

But there are “thunderbolts” of the cabinet as well as of the field. The elder Pitt, who was only a civilian, infused his own conquering soul into the British arms, making them irresistible; and the French Carnot, while a member of the Committee of Public Safety, was said to have organized victory. Such is the statesmanship now needed for us. And there must be generals who will carry forward all that the most courageous statesmanship directs.

* * * * *

Armies and men we have of rarest quality. Better never entered a field or kept step to drum-beat. Intelligent and patriotic, they have left pleasant homes, to offer themselves, if need be, for their country. They are no common hirelings, mere food for powder, but generous citizens, who have determined that their country shall be saved. Away in camp, or battle, or hospital, let them not be forgotten. But, better than gratitude even, we owe them the protection which comes from good generals and courageous counsels. O God! let them not be led to useless slaughter like sheep, nor be compelled to take the hazard of death from climate and exposure, as well as from ball and bayonet, without giving them at once all the allies which can be rallied to their support. In the name of humanity, and for the sake of victory, I make this appeal. But the loyal everywhere are allies. And does loyalty depend upon color? Is it skin or heart that we consult? Do you ask the color of a benefactor? As I listen to people higgling on the question how to treat Africans coming to our rescue, I am reminded of that famous incident, where the Emperor of Austria, driven back by the Turks, three hundred thousand strong, and besieged in Vienna until at the point of surrender, was suddenly saved by the gallant Sobieski of Poland. The Emperor, big with imperial pride, thought chiefly of his own supereminent rank,--as a Proslavery Democrat thinks of his,--and hesitated how to receive his Polish benefactor, who was only an elected king, when the Austrian commander said: “Sire, receive him as the saviour of your empire.” The Emperor gave to his saviour hardly more than a cold salute; and we are told to imitate this stolid ingratitude.

* * * * *

Wherever I turn in this war, I find the African ready to be our saviour. If you ask for strategy, I know nothing better than that of the slave, Robert Small, who brought the Rebel steamer Planter with its armament out of Charleston, and surrendered it to our Commodore as prize of war. If you ask for successful courage, I know nothing better than that of the African, Tillman, who rose upon a Rebel prize-crew, and, overcoming them, carried the ship into New York. If you ask for heroism, you will find it in that nameless African on board the Pawnee, who, while passing shell from the magazine, lost both his legs by a ball, but, still holding a shell, cries out, “Pass up the shell,--never mind me; my time is up.” If you ask for fidelity, you will find it in that slave, also without a name, who pointed out the road of safety to the harassed, retreating Army of the Potomac. And if you ask for evidence of desire for freedom, you will find it in the little slave-girl, journeying North, whom Banks took up on his cannon.

It is now as at earlier stages of our history. The African is performing his patriotic part, so far as you will let him. At the famous massacre, when the first blood of the Revolution reddened the ice-clad pavements of Boston, Crispus Attucks, an African, once a slave, was among the victims. At Bunker Hill, where our homely troops first stood against British valor, Peter Salem, also an African once a slave, was conspicuous for courage, to the cost of the royal officer who scaled the rampart, so that History names him with honor, and Art presents him in the fore-front of the battle. Trumbull has portrayed the scene. So long as that picture endures, so long as that historic battle haunts the memory, you cannot forget the African fellow-soldier of Prescott and Warren. But there are others like him, ready now to do the same service.

* * * * *

Not for the first time do I here make this appeal. Constantly I have made it before the people and in the Senate, by speech and proposition. I give an instance, being a resolution in the Senate, offered May 26th of this year.

“_Resolved_, That, in the prosecution of the present war for the suppression of a wicked Rebellion, the time has come for the Government of the United States to appeal to the loyalty of the whole people everywhere, but especially in the Rebel districts, and to invite all, without distinction of color, to make their loyalty manifest by ceasing to fight or labor for the Rebels, and also by rendering every assistance in their power to the cause of the Constitution and the Union, according to their ability, whether by arms, or labor, or information, or in any other way; and since protection and allegiance are reciprocal duties, dependent upon each other, it is the further duty of the Government of the United States to maintain all such loyal people, without distinction of color, in their rights as _men_, according to the principles of the Declaration of Independence.”[116]

I need not stop to discuss this resolution. You know my opinions, and how I have pressed them in debate. You may also be assured that I have never failed to present them in that quarter where it was peculiarly important they should prevail. On the 4th of July of the present year, in a personal interview with the President, I said: “You need more men, not only at the North, but at the South, in the rear of the Rebels: you need the slaves. Say the word, and you can give to our armies this invaluable alliance,--you can change the rear-guard of the Rebellion into the advance-guard of the Union. It is now the 4th of July. You can make this day more sacred and more historic, and do for it better than the Continental Congress.” Had Emancipation been spoken at that time, I cannot doubt that the salvation of our country would have begun thus earlier. Of course, such a word would have been a blast from the war-trumpet, justified as a military necessity, according to examples of history and the heart of man. And such a blast the President has now blown.

* * * * *

But it is said that all appeal to slaves is unconstitutional; and it is openly assumed that rebels making war on the Constitution are not, like other public enemies, beyond its protection. Why this peculiar tenderness, whenever Slavery is in question? Battalions may be shot down, and property taken without due process of law, but Slavery must not be touched. The ancient Egyptians, when conquered, submitted easily to loss of life and property; but when a Roman soldier happened to kill a cat in the streets, they rose and tore him limb from limb with such violent excitement that the generals overlooked the outrage for fear of insurrection. Slavery is our sacred cat, not to be touched without fear of insurrection. Sir, I am tired and disgusted at hearing the Constitution perpetually invoked for Slavery. According to certain authorities, the Constitution is all for Slavery and nothing for Freedom. I am proud to own that with me just the reverse is the case. There are people who keep apothecaries’ scales, in which they nicely weigh everything done for Freedom. I have no such scales, where Freedom is in question, nor do I hesitate to say that in a case of Freedom all such nicety is unconstitutional. The Constitution is not mean, stingy, and pettifogging, but open-handed, liberal, and just, inclining always in favor of Freedom, and enabling the Government, in time of war, not only to exercise any Rights of War, including liberation of slaves, but also to confer any largess or bounty--it may be of money, or, better still, of freedom--for services rendered. I do not dwell now on the unanswerable argument by which John Quincy Adams has placed this power beyond question.[117] Whatever the provisions of the Constitution for protection of the citizen, they are inapplicable to what is done against a public enemy. The law of an Italian city prohibited the letting of blood under penalty of death; but this did not doom the surgeon who opened a vein to save the life of a citizen. In war there is no constitutional limit to the activity of the Executive, except the emergency. The safety of the people is the highest law. There is no blow the President can strike, there is nothing he can do against the Rebellion, that is not constitutional. Only inaction can be unconstitutional.

Some there are who would sacrifice the lives of our Northern liberty-loving people, and, if this does not save the Union, then strike Slavery. This again is putting cart before horse. Slavery should be struck to save precious blood. The life of a single patriot is worth more than all Slavery; ay, more, it has stronger securities in the Constitution.

* * * * *

Search the writers on the Law of Nations, and you will find the appeal to slaves justified. Search history, whether in ancient or modern times, and you will find it justified by example. In our Revolution, this appeal was made by three different British commanders,--Lord Dunmore, Sir Henry Clinton, and Lord Cornwallis. I do not stop for details. That their appeal was not unsuccessful is evident from concurring testimony. Its propriety was admitted by Jefferson, while describing his own individual losses from Cornwallis.

“He destroyed all my growing crops of corn and tobacco; he burned all my barns, containing the same articles of the last year, having first taken what corn he wanted; he used, _as was to be expected_, all my stock of cattle, sheep, and hogs, for the sustenance of his army, and carried off all the horses capable of service.… _He carried off, also, about thirty slaves. Had this been to give them freedom, he would have done right.…_ From an estimate I made at that time, on the best information I could collect, I supposed the State of Virginia lost, under Lord Cornwallis’s hands, that year, about thirty thousand slaves.”[118]

It would be difficult to imagine testimony stronger. Here was a sufferer, justly indignant for himself and his State; but he does not doubt that an enemy would do right in carrying off slaves to give them freedom.

The enterprise of Lord Dunmore deserves more particular mention. His proclamation was thus explicit:--

“And I do hereby further declare all indented servants, negroes or others (appertaining to rebels), free, that are able and willing to bear arms, they joining his Majesty’s troops as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing this colony to a proper sense of their duty to his Majesty’s crown and dignity.”[119]