Red Wing sentinel. [volume] (Red Wing, M.T. [i.e. Minn.]) 1855-1861, 1861-03-13

Inaugural Address Of President Lincoln,
Delivered at the Capi,oi. March ith, at IL
O'Clock, NJ.
Fellov C;tise"s Of the United Statee:s - u
III compliance with custom as old as thu
Government is itself, appear before you to
address you briefly, and to take in Your pres
cncc the oath prescribed by the Constitution
Of the United States, to be taken by the
President before lie enters on the execution
Of tue duties OF his ollicc. do not consider
1t necessary at present for nc to discuss those
matters OF administration about which there
IS no special anxiety or excitement. Apprc-
nehslon seems to exist among the people Of
the Southern States that ''y the accession of
Republican Administration their property,
and their peace, and personal security, are 10
b, endangered.
There hos never been any reasonable cause
for such apprehension; indeed Tic most ample
evidence to the contrary has all the while ex-
!ssed, and been open to their inspection. l,
- found in nearly all the published speeches
III him who row addresses you. 10 but
quote from one of those speeches, when de-
clare that have no purpose, directly or in
directly, to interfere with the institution Of
slavery in the States where it exists l be-.
lievc ! have no right to do SO. and have no
inclination to do SO. Those who nominated
and elected inc did 50 with full knowledge
that had made this and many similar dcela-
ralions. and had never recalled them; aud
more than this, they placed in the platform
Tor my acceptance as a law TO themselves and
TO NE, a clear aud emphatic resolution, which!
now read:
Resolved, That the maintenance inviolatc
OF tho rights Of the States, and especially the
right Of each State to order and control its
own domestic institutions according to its own
judgment exclusively. is essential to that bal
nncc OF power on which the perfection ant!
endurance OF our political fabric depends, and
We dc'souncc the lawless invasion by an armed
force OF the sol! Of any State or Territory. no
matter under what pretext, as the graycst Of
crimes.
l now reitcratc my sentiments. and in doing
so only press upon the public attention the
most conclusive evidence OF which the case. Is
susceptible, that the pr perty, peace, and Sc
cur'ty OF no section are to be in anywise en-
dangered by tue now incoming administration.
add, too that all tho protection which con-
sistcntly with the Constitution and the laws
can DC givcn, will be checrfully given 10 all
the States when lawfully demanded for what
ever cause, as checrfully to one section as to
another.
There is much controversy about the tcv.
ering mp OF fngitives from service or labor
The clause now read is rs plainly written in
the Constitution as any other OF its provis-
ions: " No person held to service or labor iu
one 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 OF
claim Of the party to whom such service or
labor my lie due.'' It was intended by those
who made it for the retaining of what we
call fugitive slaves, and the intention of the
lawgiver is the law. All members Of Con.
gresss swear their support to the whole Con.
slitution, to this provision rs much as to
any other mission, then, that slaves, whose
escape comes within the terms of this clause,
shall be delivered up. Their oaths are
unanimous. Now if they would make the
effort in good temper, they could not, with
nearly equal unanimty, frame and pass
law by means Of which to keep good that
unanimous oath. There is some difference
Of opinion whether this clause should be en-.
forced by National Or State authority but
surely that difference is not very material
one. II the slave is to be surrendered, it
can be OF but little consequence to him Or to
others by which authority it is done, and
should any one in any case no content that
his oath shall be unkcpt for merely unsub-
stantial controversy as to how it Shall be
kept? Again, in any law upon this subject,
ought not alt the safeguards OF liberty known
in civilized and human jurisprudence, to be
introduced so that o freemen may rot be in
any case surrendered as slave, and might
it not be we'll at the same time to provide
law for the enforcement Of that clause in
the Constitution which guarantees that the
citizens ofcach State shall be entitled to all
the privileges and imunn;tics Of citizens in
the several States? take the official oath
to-day with no mental reservations and
with no purpose to construe the Constitu-
ton or laws by any hypocritical rules, and
while do not choose now to specify par
ticularly acts of Congress as proper to be
enforced, DO sngggcst that it will lie much
safer for all, both in cffice and private rela-
tons, to conform to and abide by all those
acts which stand unrepealed than to violate
any of them, trusting to find IMMUNITY in
having them held to he unconstitutional.
1t is sevcnty-two years since the first in
auguration ola President under our present
Constitution. During that period ifteen
different and greatly distinguished citizens
have in succession administered the exccu.
tive branch Of the Government. They have
conductedit through many perils, and gen.
orally with great success, yet with all this
scope for preceded, now enter upon tho
same task Cor the brief constitutional term
Of four years, under great and peculiar diff
culties. Disruption Of the Fedral Uuion,
heretofore only menapcad, is now formilably;
attempted. hold that, in contemplation
of universal law and Of the Constitution, the
union Of these States is perpetual. Perpitu.
ity is implied, If not expressed, in the funda-
mental law Of all National Governments
1t is safe to assert that Government
proper never had provisions in it's or
ganic law for its own termination. Continue
to execute all the express provision o:
eur National Constitution, and the Union
will endure forever,it being impossible to
destroy it except by some action not proyid-
I'd for in the instrument ITSELF
Again, ifthe United States be not gov.
eminent proper. but an association Of States