The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1864-05-05
Executive MANSION.


A, q. Hodges, E'q, Fran fort, Ken
tucky:
My DEAR Su:-You aSkc me to put
in writing the substance OF what verb
ally said, the other day, IN your presence,
to Governor Bramlcttc aud Senator DIX
on. II was about as follows;
"l am naturally unti.sluvcry. IL sla-
very is not wrong, nothing is wrong. |
cannot remember when did not 80 think
and feel. Aud yet, | haye never UNDER
stood that the Presidency conferred up
on me an Unrestricted right TO act Ufli
cially upon this judgment aud feeling
II was in the ontS took, that would to
the best of my ability. preserve, protect
and defend the Constitution OF the Uni
ted States. ! could not take the office
without taking HE onlh. Nor was il my
view. that | might take an oath TO get
power, AMI breik the oath in using that
power. ! understood, too, that in Ordn-
nry civil administration, this oath even
forbade me to practically indulge in pri-
mary, abstract Judgment Un the morul
question Of slavery. | had publicly de.
clured this many tunes, aud in many
ways. Aud | over that, 10 this day,
huve done no official act in mere defer.
ence 10 my abstract judgment and feeling
Un slavery.
do understand, however, that my
oath to preserve the Constitution TO the
best of my ability, imposed upon me the
duty of preserving, by every indispcnsa.
BILE means, that Guvernment--lhat Ma
ton, of which that Constitution was the
organic law. Was it possible to loose
the Nation, and yet preserve the Consti.
tuition!
BY general law life and limb must be
protected; yet often limb must be am,
putnted To save life; but life il lot
wisely given to save limb. | felt that
measures, otherwise unconstitutional,
might become lawful, by becoming dis
pensablc TO the preservation Of the con-
stiiuiion through the preservation of the
Nation. Right or wrong ! assumed this
ground, aud now uvOw il. | could not
feel, that to the best Of my ility | had
even tried TO preserve the Constitution,
If, TO save slavery, or any minor matter, |
should permit tho wreck of Government,
Country and Constitution, allOaother,-
When, early in the war, Gen. Fremont
attempted military emancipation, for
bnde II, because did not then think il
an indispensable necessity. When, q
little later, General Cameron, then Src-
retury of War, suggested the armiRg of
the blacks, objected; because did not
think il an indispers sable ~ cessiIy.-
When, still later, General HLnter At
tempted military emancipation, aguin
forbade is, because | did not yet think
the indispensable necessity hnd come.
When, in March, May and July, 1859,
| nude earnest and successive appeals 10
the border States to iayor compensated
emancipation, believed tho indispensa-
bic necessity for military emancipation,
and arming the blacks would come, un.
less ayertcd by that measure. They de-
clned the propositious and wac, 10 my
best judgment, driven 10 The alternative,
Of either surrenderlng the Union, and
with II the Constitution. or of laying
strong hand upon The colored elemeni.--
l chose the latter In choosing il, !
hoped for greater gain than loss; but Of
this was not entirely confident. More
than year Of trial now shows no loss
by il, III our foreign relations; pone in
our home popular sentiment; none in
our white military force---no loss by il
any how or any where.s On thescontra.
ry, il shows gain of quite a hundred and
thirty thousand soldiers, seamen and Ia
fHhnat. nal.la ah