The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1864-04-30

-Hayper's Weekly.
Letter from the President.
The following letter appears in the
Frankfort KY. Commonwealth of April25th,
and is part of what appears to be an au-
thorized account Of the interview between
the President, Gov. Bramlette, and those
who accompanied him from Kentucky, Of
whom the Editor was one. After the OBJ
ject Of the visit had been discussed and sat-
isfactOrily adjusted, the President made
some remarks in explanation Of his con.
duct and policy, which he thought misun-
derstood in Kentucky. Mr.. Hodges, the
editor, subsequently requested that the
President would write out these remarks.
He consented. and they appear in the let
ter below. Our readers will agree with Us
that it is admirable:
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
April A, l664.-A. G. Hodges, Esq, FrGnk-
fort, KY. Ny DEAR SIR-You ask me to
put in writing the substance of what YER
bally said, the other day in your presence,
to Governor Bramlette and Senator Dixon.
It was about as follows:
l am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery
is not wrong, nothing is wrong. cannot
remember when did not sothink and feel.
And vet, have never understood that the
Presidency conferred on me an unrestrict-
ed right to act officially upon this Judgment
and feeling. It was in the oath took, that
l would to the best of my ability, preserve,
protect and defend the Constitution OF the
United States. could not take the Office
without taking the oath. Nor was it my
view that might take an oath to get pow
er, and break the oath in using the power.
] understood, too, that in ordinary civil ad-
ministration this oath even forbade me to
practically indulge in primary, abstract
judgment ON the moral question Of slavery.
/ had publicly declared this many times,
and in many ways. And aver that, to
this day, l have done no official act in mere
Difference to my abstract judgment and
feeling on slavery.
/ did understand, however, that my oath
to preserve the Constitution to the best Of
my ability, imposed upon me the duty Of
preserving, by every indispensable means,
that observation-disclosures nation, Of which
Was it possible to lose the nation, and yet
preserve the Constitution?
By general law, life and limb must be
projected; vet often a limb must he ampu-
lated to save life, but a life il never WISE
~ given to save limb. / felt that meas
ures otherwise unconstitutional, might be-
come lawful by becoming indispensable TO
the preservation Of the Constitution, through
the preservation Of the nation. Right or
wrong, / assumed this ground, and now
avow it. could not feel, that to the best
of my ability had even tried to preserve
the Constitution, if, to save slavery, or any
minor matter. I should permit the wreck
Of Government country and Constitution,
altogether.
When, early in the war, Gen. Fremont
attempted military emancipation, l forbade
it, because did not then think il an indis-
pensable necessity. When, q little later,
Gen. Cameron, then Secretary Of War,
suggested the arming of the blacks, OBJ
jected: because did not yet think it an in
|dispensable necessity. When, still later,
Gen. Hunter attempted military emancipa-
ton. again forbade it; because / did not
yet think that the indispensable necessity
had come.
When, in March, and May, and July,
1862, ! made earnest and successive ap-
peals 10 the border States to favor COM
pensated emancipation, believed the in
dispensable necessity for military emanci-
patton and arlning the blacks would come,
unless averted by that measure. They
declined the proposition; and was, in my
best Judgment, driven to the alternative Of
either surrendering the Union. and with
it the Constitution, or of laying strong
hands upon the colored element. chose
the latter. In choosing it / hoped for
greater gain than loss; but Of this was
not entirely confident. More than year
"
fereign relations; none in our home popu-
lar sentiment; none in our white military
force-noloss by it. any how, or any where.
On the contrary, it shows q gain Of quite
$780, 600 soldiers, seamen aud laboYers.-
These are palpable facts, about which, a.
facts, there can be no caviling. We have
the men, and we could not have had them
without the measure.
And now, let any Union man, who COM
plains Of the measure, test himself by
writing down in one line, that he is for SUBJ
DUNG the rebellion by force of arms, and
in the next, that he is for taking these 100, :
600 men from the Union side, and placing
them where they would be, but for the
measure he condemns. If he can not face
his cause SO stated, it is only BECAUSE he
can not face truth.
l add word, which was not in the YER
bal conversation. In telling this tale,
claim not to have controlled events, but
confess plainly that events have controlled
me. Now, at the end Of three years strug-
gle. the nations condition il not what eth
er party or man devised or expested. God
alone can claim it. Whittier It 10 tending
seems plain. flood now Wills the reno
val Of great wrong, and wills also that
We of the North. % we'll a. you Of the
South, shall pay fairly for our completely
| in that wrong, impartial history viii find
therein new causes to attest and revere the
justice and goodness Of God.
Yours, truly. A. LINCOLN.
A HAPPY MEETIN0.-An interesting and
pleasant meeting took place in this city z
gem and six of his sons, all soldiers in the
Union armyexcept the father and hewould
be were he not q cripple. Two of his sons
| are members of the Sth Indiana, one of the