Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1864-04-29

would write out the remarks made 10
Gov. Bramlette and Senator Uxon, ia
order that, with the Presidents psrmis-
siau, they might be published 10 The
Commonwealth; that II Published. the
Colonel doubted not, they would remove
much Of the prejudice which was attemp-
ted to be created against the President
in Kentucky
The President took the matter into
consideration, and shortly after his re.
turn home the Colonel received the fol
losing, which we would commend to The
deliberate consideration Of the patriotic
people OF Kentucky
ExecuriYe sIASaoS,
Washington, April I.
A. a. Dodge, Esq, Franz fori, Kg
MT DEAR SK-You ask me 10 bat ID
writing the substance Of what verbally
said, the other day, in yoar presence. To
Governor Bramlesse and senator Dixon
II vas about as follows
! am naturally anti-sIavery. ifslayerv
- not wrong, nothing Is wrong. can
not remember when | did not 50 think
and feel. And Jet, have never under.
stood that The Presidency conferred
upon me The unrestricted right 10 act Of
heially upon this Judgment and feeling.
|, was the oath took, that ~ould 10
the best of my ability, preserve, protect.
and defend the Constitution &c the
United States could not take the OF
fee without taking The oath. Nor vas
Il my sisw, that ! might take an oath, get
power, and break the nAfh Ia assa9 The
pover. understood, too, that. IN ordi-
NARY civil administration, this oath even
forbade me to practically indulge my
primary abstract Judgment on the moral
question: Of slavery. | had publicly de.
esared this many times, and ia many
ways. And aver that to this day, I
have done no oiiicial aes 10 mere deter.
enee to my abstract Judgment aud feel
ing on slavery.
| did understand, however, that nav
oath to preserve the Consultation 10 The
best Of my ability, imposed upon me the
duty Of preserving, BY every iudispensi.
BILE means, that Government---that Ma
ton, aud yet preserve the Constitution.
By general law, life aud limb mus,
be protected; Jet often limb must be
amputated to sase life; bot life is
never wisely given 10 save limb. feel
that measures, otherwise uneonstitation-
al, might become lawful, by becoming
indispensable 20 the preservation of the
Constitution, through the preservation
of the Nation, right or wrong. assumrd
this ground, and nov avow IL | could
not feel that TO the best Of my ability
had even tried TO preserve the Consiitus
hon, # TO save slavery or any minor
matter, | should permit the wreck Of
Governments Couutry snl Consiituiion,
all together. When early in the war
General Fremont attempted military
emancipation, ! forbade il because did
not then think IL an indispensable nscss-
sity. When q little later, General Cam
erou, then Secretary Of War, suggested
the arrning Of blacks, objected, because
did not yet think il an indispensable
necessity When, still later, General
Hunter attempted military emancipation.
again forbade il, because did not vet
think the Indispensable necessity had
e0nie.
When, ia March, and May, and Jals,
/ lSG2, made earnest aud successive ap-
I peals to the Border States, to favor com.
pensated emancipation, | believed the
/ indispensable necessity for military
emancipation, and arming the blacks
+ would come. unless averted BY that
measure. They declined the proposition,
aud was, in my hest Judgment. driven
to the alternative, Of either surrender
ing the Union. and with it, the Consti-
tuition, or Of laying strong hand apon the
coloFed element chose the latter
In choosing il, | hoped for greater gain
than loss; but Of this I was no. entirely
confident More than a year Of trial nov
shows no loss by 1t in our foreign rela.
tons; none 10 our home popular sentl-
uient; none in our white military force
no loss by IL. sRyhox or anywhere.
4 On the contrary Il shows a gain of quite
hundred aud thirty thousand soldiers
seamen and lsborers These are palpa
bic facts, shout which, as 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, wis
complains of the measure, test himself
By writing down II one hne that be j.
for subdaing the rebellion by force o
arms, and in the next, that he is for ia
king these hundred and thirty Thousand
men from the Union side. and placing
them where they would be but for ;h,
measure he condemns Ii he cauno
face his cause SO stated, it is Only bs
cause he cannot face the truth
add a word, which was not il th'
. vebal conversation. In telling this tale
attempt no compliment to my own sa
, gaeity. ! claim not to have controlled
) events, bat confess plainly that eyenil
, have controlled me Now, at the end &
t three years 4 uggle, the nations eoudi
ton Is not what either party or aay mar
r devised or expected God alone car
! claim it. Whittier it is tending seem
' plain If God nov wills the removal o
I a CREST wrong, and wills also that We o
r the North, as well as yOu Of the South
shall paw fairly for our rcomplicity in tha
D wrong, impartial history viii hnd there
{ in new cause to attest and reverse th
: Justice and goodness CT God.
: Yours truly,
- A LIScoLs.