Year: 1862

ciently supplied.


1t has always been great wrong that
those men and their ramilirs should be
held in bondage. We OF the North
have hitherto acqniesccd in 1t, lest in
the effort to redress it in violation Of
the Constitution, greater evils might en-
sue.


But the time has come when it is
Constitutional to redress it. The REBEL |
ion has made it so. Property in man,
always morally unjust, has become ma
tionally dangerous. Property that en-
dangers the safety Of nation should
not be suff red to remain in the hands
Of its citizens. A Chief Magistrate who
permits it 50 to remain becomes re
sponsiblo for the consequences. For
he has the right, under the law and the
Constitution, to take private property,
with just compensation offered, for pub
Tic use, whenever it is apparent that
any public exigency demands such ap.
preparation.


| Forgive what may seem curt speech If
say that, in my judgment, a President
with just sense of duty has no option
in such case.


In the due exercise of your official
Dounr n skr;o1o.t ,ooor1,noo ,r;,h Lon
and the Constitution, you can deprive
the enemy Of that which, above all else,
has given, and still gives him, aid and
comfort You can declare aneipated
his slaves, the supplies Of his commits
sariat. Gradually, you can deprive
him of these and for every hundred
thousand productive lahorers he loses
you may have hundred thousand sol.
diers. With their aid you can reach
the rest. What then remains for him
He must thin bis ranks to cultivate his
plantations. He must labor for his
own food, or must perish for the lack
oft.


The people are forbidden to give aid
and comfort to rebels. What of Gov
; ernment that has the power to cut off
from aid aud comfort all the rebels OF
the South and fails to exercise it


We ought to do that which is right,
even if the rccompense be distant and
uncertain but we add folly to injus-
tice if we neglect a great act of benef =
cence that is to be rewarded, even now,
by our own preservation.


Yetagain. Can you look forward to
the future of our country and imagine
any state ofthings in which, with Slave.
ry It II exit M, we should be assured
of permanent peace cannot. We
can, constitutionally, extirpate Slavery
at this time. But if we fail to do this,
then, unless we intend heceaftor to vio-
late tn Constitution, we shall have q
fugitive slave law in operation whenever
, the war is over. Shall the North have
sacrificed a hundred thousand lives
and two thousand millions of treasure
to come to that at last? Not even 8
guaranty of peace purchased at so enor.
nous a cost2 After voluntary exer.
tions on the part of our people to which
the his'ory Of the world furnishes no
pal allel is the old root of bitterness still
to remain in the ground to sprout and
bear fruit in the future, as it has borne
fruits in the past?


The questions are addressed to you
for upon you and upon your action more
than upon any other one thing doe,
the answer depend. You have, at thi.
time. more power than any constitution
al monarch in the world. The Eng
lish Government always acts according
to the policy approved by the constitu
tional advisers Of the Crown. You
would violate usage only if you should
act without the advice, or even contrary
to the opinion, of your constitutional
advisers. do not mean that you could
continue to do this with propriety OF
even with safety; | merely assert tha
the power is, in point Of fact, in your
hands. And for such power what a
responsibility to God aud man


1t is within your power at this very
moment not only to consummate an act
Of enlightened craftsmanship, but, al
the instrument Of the Almighty, to re
store to freedom n race Of men.
you are tempted by an imperishabl'
name, it is within your reach. Welma,
look through ancient and modern histo
} ry, yet scarce find sovereign to whom
God offered the privilege Of bestowinG
l on humanity boon so vast.


Such an offer comes to no human be
, ing twice. 1t is made to you to day.
How long it will remain oPop-whethe
in three months or one month from noV
q it will still be at your option to accep
I it-God, who reads the hearts Of mer


alone knows.


And this brings me to speak of an