The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-07-26
SATURDAY MORNING, JULY &c, 1862,
Appeal of the President to the Border
State Congressman.
Response of the DOreratlon.

The Representatives and Senators of
the Border Slaveholdiug States having,
by special invitation of the President,
been convened at the Executive Mansion
on Saturday morning, July 18th, Mr..
LINCOLN addressed them as follows, from
written paper held iu his hand:
Gentlemen: After the adjournment Of
Congress, now near, shall have no OPP
portunity of seeing you for several months.
Believing that you of the Border States
hold more power for good than any other
equal number Of member, | feel il a duty
which | cannot justdrbly waive to APP
peal TO you.
intend no reproach or complaint
when / assure that, in my opinion, if you
all had voted for the resolution in the
gradual emancipation message, of last
March, the war would now be substan-
TALLY ended. The plan therein proposed
is yet one Of the most potent and swift
means Of ending it, Let the States
which are in rebellion see definitely and
certainly that in no event will the States
you represent ever join their proposed
cOniederacy, and they cannot much lon
| ger maintain the contest. But YOU cam
not divest them of their hope TO ultimate
ly have you with them so long as YOU
show determination to perpetuate the
institution within your own States. Beat
them at elections, as you have overwhelm-
ingly done, and, nothing daunted, they
will claim you as their own You and /
know what the lever of their power is
Break the lever before their faces. and
they can shake you no more forever.
Most Of you have treated me with
kindness and consideration, and l trust
you will not now think / improperly
touch what is exclusively your own,
when, for the sake of the whole country,
ask, "can you, for your States, do bet
ter than to take the course urge? Dis
carding plmciiibo and maxims adapted to
more manageable times, and looking only
to the unprecedentedly stern fact Of our
case, can you do better in any possible
eyent!' You prefer that the Constitu-
lionel relation OF inc States 10 the nation
shall be practically restored without dis
turbance Of the institution; and, il this
were done, my whole duty in this respect
under the Constitution and my oath Of
Office, would be performed. But it is not
done, and we are trying 10 accomplish il
by war The incidents Of The l0qy cannot
u aroideR. II the tOar continues Iona, as 10
must u he object Be- not sooner attained, The
institution IN y0,V States l0iH be eDtiagUislei
By mere friction and Occasionally bie mere
incidents Of The toar. II l0iH BE- gone, and yot
l1iH hare nothing valuable IN lieu Of IT,
Much Of its value is gone already, How
much better for you and your people TO
take the step which at once shortons the
war, and secures substantial oompensa-
| ton for that which is sure 10 Be- Ul0l'y lost
ia any other eUeHtt How much better 10
thus save the money which else we sink
forever in the war; How much better 10
do 1t while we can, lest the war ere long
render us pecuniarily unable 10 do Il !
How much better for you as seller, and
the nation, as buyer, 70 sell out and buy
out that without which the war could
never have been, than 10 sink b0ih Ue thing
10 b SOLD and he price Of 10 IN cutting enc
aHOtl.e's Giruats
do not speak Of emancipation al once
but OF decision 90 once 20 cmancipato
|. gradually Room Ina South America for
colonization can be obtained cheaplY, I'M
abundance, and when numbers shall be
large enough 10 be company and encour-
aRement for one another, the freed people
will not be- 20 reluctant 70 go
I am pressed with q difficulty not YET
mentiOhed--one which threatens division
among those who, united, are none 90