Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1866-02-13

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| While hold myself the humblost of all the ind-
| yiduas who have ever been elevated to the Pres-
dency: have more difficult task to perform than
| any OF them. bring true heart to the work /
must rely upOn the people of the whole country for
support, and with their sustaining aid even l. hum
safely through the storm To the Assembly of New
jersey at Trenton, he explained II shall take the
ground deem most just to the North the East, the
| West the South, and the whole cOuntrr in good
temper, certainly with no malice to any section. I
am devoted to peace but it may be necessary to put
| the foot down firmly. In the old Independence
| Hall of Philadelphia, he said 81 have never had a
feeling politically that did not spring from the scnti
which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this
country, but to the world in all future time If the
cpe, would rather be assassinated on the spotthan
surrender g T. h3ye We said nothing but what am
| II WHAT STATE HE FOUND THE COUNTRY
Travelling in the dead of night to escape assassina-
ton Lincoln arrived at Washington nine days before
| MS inauguration. The outgoing President at the
opening of the session of Congress, had still kept as
the majority of his advisers engaged in treason
| had declared that IN case of even an imaginary"
| apprehension of danger from notions of freedom
among the slaves, "disunion would become ineyita-
| bic Lincoln and others had questioned tho opin-
| ion OF Taney; such mpugning be ascribed to the
iaetioES temper Of the times The tavorite doc
trne OF ne majority of the Democratic party on the
power OF the territorial legislature over slavery he
| condemned rs an attack the sacred rights of
property The State Legislatures, he insisted must
repeal What he called their Unconstitutional and
| obnoxious enactments' and which, if such, were
null, null ana void. or 1t would be impossible for any
|
important acts were not repealed the injured States
would be justified in revolutionary resistance to the
| Government of the Union"
He maintained that no State might secedo at its
| sovereign Will and pleasure-that the Union was
meant lor Perpetuity; and that Congress might at
tempt to preserve but only by conciliation that the
swords were not placed in their hands to preserve il
by force; that the last desperate remedy of de-
| spalring people" would be explanatory amend
ment recognizing the decision of the Supreme Court
ofthe United States. The American Union ne called
"a contederacy of States, and he thought it a duty
| to make the appeal for the amendment before any
Of these States should separate themselves from the
Union The views of the Lieutenant General con-
tainng some patriotic advice. conceded the right of
SeceSSlon pronounced quadruple rupture Of the
Union "a smaller evil than tho rounting of the rrag-
ments by the sword and "eschewed the idea of in
vadlng seeded State" After changes in the Cabi-
net the President informed Congress that ''mattcrs
were still worse: that the South suffered serious
| grievances. which should be redresscd in peace"
Ihe day after this message the flag of the Union
was not reyenged or noticed. Senators in Congress
telegraphed to their constituents seize the national
forts, and they were not arrested. The finances of
the country were grievously embarrassed Its little
army was not within reach-the part of it in Texas
to the seeding insurgents. One State after another
voted IN convention to so out Of the Union A peace
congress, Soc&lled met at the request of Virginia TO
concert the terms OF eapiuation Tor the continu-
| ance OF the Union. Congress, in both branches,
sought to devise conelaory expedients; the Terri,
torres oI the country were organized in mannernot
to conflict with any pTetensiOnS of the South or any
! decision OF the Supreme Court; and, nevertheless
| the seeding States formed at Montgomery Pro-
| vislonal Goyernment and pursued their relentless
purpose with such success that the Lieutenant Gen
era feared the city OF Washington might find itself
| included in a foreign country" and proposed
among the options for the consideration of Lincoln,
| great Republic seemed to have its emblem in the
vast unfinished Capitol, at that moment surrounded
by masses OF stone and PROSTATE co lumns yet
| lfteC INTO thelr places seemingly the monument of
high but delusiye aspirations, the confused wreck Of
| i4choate magniiicenee; sadder than any ruin OF
Egyptian Ihebes or Athens.
HIS INAUGURATION.
The fourth Of f March came. With instructive wis
| taking the oath of office, put aside every question
that divided the country and gained right to uni
yersa support by planting himself on the single idea
| of Mon That Union he declared to be unbroken
| and perpetual and he announced his determination
pc faithfully executed IN all the States" Seven days
later, the conycntion Of Confederate States unan-
mously adopted constitution of their own; and the
be founded the idea that slavery is the natural
and normal condition Of the negro race. The issue
was made up whether the great Republic was to
maintain its pr0yidental placein the history of man
kind, or rebellion founded on negro slavery gain =
recognition of its principle throughout the civilized
world To the disaffected Lincoln had said: You
have conflict without being yourselves the ag
gressors" To fire the southern portion of the peo
pie, the Confederate Government chose to become
aggressors and on the morning of the 18th of April
began the bombardment of Fort Sumter and com
PEELED its evacuation.
UPRISING or THE PEOPLE.
feet faith in the perpctuiy of the Union SuDported
in advance by Douglas no spoke as with the voice
Of million, he insantlycaed meeting of Congress
and summoned the people to come up and repossesS
the forts places and property which had been seized
from the Union. The men Of the North were trained
IN schools; industrious and frugal; many of them
delicatey bred, their minds teeming with ideas and
fertile in plans of enterprise given to the culture of
the arts; eager in the pursuit of wealth. eemployng
wealth less for ostentaon than for developing the
resources OF their country seeking happiness in the
calm of domestic life and such lovers of peace that
for generations they had been reputed unwarke
Now, at the cry of their country in its Distress they
rose up with unappeaSable patriotismi not hrengs-
the purest ana OF the best blood III the land; of
plOus ancestry with clear perception of duty, un-
clOuded faith and fixed resolve to succeed, they
hrOnged round the President to support the wrongcd
the beautiful flag ofthe nation. The halls of theo-
logical seminarics sent forth their young men
whose lips were touched with eIoauence Whose
hearts kndled with devotion to serve in the
ranks, and make their way to command only as
they learned the art of war Stripings in the col
leges. well the most gentle and the most studious
those Of sweetest temper and loveiest character
and brightest genius passed from their classes to the
camp. The lumbermen sprang forward from the for
estS the MECHANICS from their benches, where they
had been trained by the exercise of political rights
responsibility their forefathers their posterity and
mankind, went forth resolved that their dignity as
paired. Farmers ana soas OF farmers left the land
but half plowed the grain but half planted and, !
taking the musket, learned to face without fear
the presence of peril and the coming of death in the
shocks of war, while their hearts still attracted
to the charms of their rural ife and all the tender
objections OF Gome. Whatever there was of truth and
faith and public love in the common heart broke out
with one expression The mighty winds blew from
every quarter to fan the flame of the sacred and un
quenchable fire,
Tue WAR A WORLDWIDE WAR.
For time the war was thought to he confined to
our own domestic affairs but 1t that il
involved the desneS of mankind, and its principles
and causes shook the politics OF Europe to the CENTRE
and from Lisbon to Pekin divided the governments
of the world
GREAT BRITAIN.
There was kingdom whose people had in emf |
nent degree attained to freedom of industry and the
security of person and property Its middle class rose
to greatness. out of that class sprung the noblst
poets and philosophers whose words built the in
teect Of its people; skiltl ravigators find out the
II n Sol
ence, whose inventions guided its industry to wealth.
till equaled any nation of the world in letters and
exceed all in trade and commerce. Bat It's govern
ment had become government of land, and not of |
mem every blade of grass was represented but onlya
small minority OF the people. In the tr Insition from
the teudal FORMS the heads of the social organization
freed themselves from the military services which
were the conditions of their tenure, and throwing the
burden on the industrial classes kept all the soil to
themselves asst estates that had hecn managed by
monaSterles a. endowmentS tor religion and charity
were lmprOprated TO swell the wealth of cOurtlerS |
and favores; and the commons, where the poor man |
once had his right OF pasture taken away, and.
under forms OF law, enclosed dlstrl6utyeiy within
their own dominions: Although no law forbade any |
nhabitant from purchasing land the costliness of the
transfer constituted prohibitions so that 1t the
rule of that country that the plOw should be in
the hands of its owner. The church was rested on |
contradiction claiming to be an embodiment of absO-
lutte truth and yet was creature of the statute book
HER SENTIMENTS.
The progress Of time increased the terrible con-
rast between wealth and poverty; in their years of
strength, the laoorng people; cut of from all share
in governing the State, derived sJanty support from
lHe seFeTesI IOll. ndu nope Tor Old
public charity or death. A graspng ambition had /
dotted the world with military posts kept watch over
our borders on the northeast at tha Bermudas, in
the West Indies, held the gates of the Pacific of the
Southern and of the Indian ocean, hOvered on our
northwest at Vancouver held the whole of tho newest
continent, and the entrances to tho Mediterranean
and Red Sea- and garrisaned forts all the way FROM
Madras tG China. That aristocracy had gazei with
terror on the growth of a commonwealth where free
holds existed by the m1n and religion was not in
bondage to tho State and they could not repress
their Joy at its peris. They had not one word OF
sympathy for the kind hearted poor mans son whom
America had chosen for her chief they jeered at his
large hands and long feet. and ungajny stattre and
the British Secretary Of State for Foreign fairs
made haste TO send word through the palaces of Eu
rope that the great Iapublc in its agony that the
republic was no more that head stone was all that |
remained due by the law of nations to "the late
Union. But it is written Let the dead bury their
dead, they may not bury the living Let the dead |
bury their dead let bill of reform remove the worn
out Government Of GLASS and infuse new life into
the british Constitution by confdng rghtful power
u the people.
HER POLICY.
But while the vitality of America is indestructible |
the British Government hurried to do what never |
before had been done by christian powers; what was
IN direct conflict with its exposition of public
law In the time Of our struggle for independence |
Though the insurgent States had not ship in an |
open harbor, 1t invested them with all the rights of
belllgerent, the ocean; and this too when |