Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1861-03-08
PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S
lIADRTRAl ADDRESS,


Fellow Citizens Of the United States,
In compliance with a custom as old
as the Government itself, | appear
before you, 10 address you briefly, and
to take in your presence the oath to
be taken by the President before he
enters on the execution of his Office
| do not consider it necessary, at
present, for me 10 discuss those mat
ter. of administration about which
there is no special anxiety or excite
ment.
Apprehension seems to exist among
the people Of the Southern States, that,
by the accession Of a Republican Ad-
ministration, their property and their
peace and personal security are to be
endangered. There has never been any
reasonable cause for such apprehen-
sion. Indeed, the most ample evidence
TO the contrary, has ali the while cxis-
ted, and been open TO their inspection.
1t is found in nearly all the published
speeches OF him who now addresses
you. | DO but quote from one Of. those
speeches, when | declare, that Il have
no purpose, directly or indirectly, to
interfere with the institution Of Slav-
cry in the States where it exists. |
believe | have no lawful right to do
so, and | have no inclination to do so. =
Those who nominated and elected me,
did so with foil knowledge that | had
made this and many similar dcclara-
tions, and had never recantcd them.
And more than this, they placed in the
Platform for my acceptance, and as
law to themselves and TO me, the clear
and emphatic resolution which l now
read:
"Resoirsd, That the maintenance inviolaie
OF the rights of the States, and e>pec ialiy the
right of each Stale to order and control its
own domestic Institutions according 10 lis own
ludS nent exclusively, Is essential 10 the bal
ance of power on which the perfection and
endurance of our poiirIcal fabric depend and
We denounce the lawieSs invasion by armed
force Of the soil of any Stale or T-rrItory, no
matter under what prelex,, as among the gra-
vest oi crimes
| now reitcrate these sentiments;
and, in doing so, | only press upon the
public attention, the most conclusive
evidence, Of which the case is susccp-
tible, that the property, peace, and
security of no section are TO bc in
anywise endangered by the now IL
coming Administration. | add, too,
that all the protection which, consist
emily with the Constitution and the
laws, can be given, will be chcerfully
given to all the States when lawfully
demanded, for whatever cause, as
cheerfully to one section as to another
There is much controversy about
the delivering up of fugitives from
service or labor. The clause | now
read is as plainly written in the Con-
slitution as any other of lis provisions:
mo person held TO service or labor in enc
State, under the laws thereof, escaping into
another, shall, in Consequence Of any law or
regulation therein, be discharged from such
service or labor, but shall be delivered up on
claim Of the parry to whom such service or
labor may. be due
1t is scarcely questioned that this
provision was intended, by those who
made it, for the reclaiming Of what we
call fugitive slaves and the intention
Of the law-giver, is the law. All .
Members Of Congress swear their sup .
port to the whole Constitution, TO this .
provision as much as any other. To
the proposition, then, that slaves, whose
cases come within the terms Of this
clause, shall be delivered up" their
oaths are unanimous. Now, if they
would make the effort in good temper,
could they not, with nearly equal una
nimity, frame and pass a law 10y means
of which TO keep good that unanim-
Gus oath?
There is some difference Of opinion
whether this clause should be enforced
by National or by State authority; but
surely that difference is not a very
material one. If the slave is TO he
surrendered, it can bc Of but little
consequence to him, or to others, by
which authority it is done. And
should any one, in any case, be content
that his oath shall go unkept, on a
merely unsubstantiai controversy rs
to how it shall be kept?
Again, in any law upon this subject,
ought not all the safeguards of liberty
known in civilized and humane .juris :
prudence TO be introduced, SO that q
free man be not, in any case, surrcn-
dercd as a slave? And might it not
be well at the same time to provide
by law for the enforcement Of that
clause in the Constitution which guar
antics that ''thc citizens of each State
shall be entitled to all privileges and
immunitieS Of citizens in the several
States?'
| take the official oath to-day with
no mental reservations, and with no
purpose 10 construc the Constitution
or laws by any hypercritcal rules.
And while | do not choose now to .
specify particular acts of Congress as
proper 10 be enforced, | do suggest
that it will he much safer for ali, both
in official and private stations, TO con-
form to aud abide hy all those acts
which stand unrcpcaled, than to vio-
late any of them, trusting to find i'm,