Year: 1862

The Presidents Appeal to the Borde
,as'l' states. 5 34
aa From the NstionAl Intellgencer.


| 1.-THE Representatives and Senators 0


the Border Slave holding States havin,


by special invitation OF the President


been convened at the Executive Mansion
on Saturday morning last, Mr.. Lincoll
addressed them as follows from writtel
paper held in his hands No m


GENTLEMEN: After the adiournmen
of Congress, now near, shall have M
opportunity Of seeing you for severa


months. Believing that you Of the Bor


der States hold more power for good thar
any other equal plumber Of members,
cannot justifably waive the opportunity
to make this appeal to you. s.. ~


|, intend no reproach or complain,
when ! assure you that ID my opinion, i
you had all voted for the resolution il
the gradual emancipation message of las


March, the war would now be substan.
TALLY ended. And the plan therein pro.
posed is yet one of the most potent and
swift means Of ending it. Let the States
which are in rebellion see definitely and
certainly that in no event will the States
you represent ever join their proposed
Confederacy. and they cannot much Ion.
ger maintain the contest. But you can
not divest them of their hope to ultimate
ly have you with them SO long as you
show determination to perpetuate the
institution within your own States. Beat
them at elections, as you have overwhel-
mingly done. and, nothing daunted. they
still claim you as their own. You aud
know what the lever of their power is
Break that lever before their faces, and
they can shake you no more forever. "a


Most Of you have treated me with kind
ness and consideration, and trust you
will not now think l improperly touch
what is exclusively your own, when, for
the sake Of the whole country, ask.
81 Can you, for your States. do better than
to take the course urge ?'' Discard
ing 1'uncsilio and maxims adopted to
more unmanageabls times, and looking
only to the unpreceden.edly stern facts
Of our case, can you do better in any
possible event? You prefer that the
constitutional relations of the States to
the nation shall be practically restored
without disturbance of the institution !;
and, if this were done. my whole duty,
in this respect. under the Constitution
and my oath Of Office, would be perform
ed. But it is not done, and we are try
ing to accomplish il by war. The Incl
dents OF the war cannot be avoided. III
the war continues long. as it must il the
object be not sooner attained, the institu.
ton in your States will be extinguished
by mere friction and abr2sion-by the
mere incidents of the war. 1t will be
gone, and you will have nothing valua-
BILE in lieu of it. Much of i.s value is
gone already. How much better for you
and for your people to take the step
which at once shoriens the war, and Sc
cures substantial compensation for that
which is sure to be wholly lost in any
other event How much better to thus
save the money which else we sink for
ever in the war How much better to
do it while we can. lest the war ere long
render US pecuniarily unable TO do it !!
How much better for you, as seller. and
the nation, ms buyer, to sell out and buy
out that without which the war could
never have been. than to sink both the
thing to be sold and the price of it, in
cutting one another's throats.


! do not speak OF emancipation at once.
but Of a decision at once to emancipate
gradually. Room in South America for
colonization can be. obtained cheaply and
in abundance, and when numbers shall
be large enough 10 be company, and en-
couragement for one another, the freed
people will not be so reluctant to 60.


am pressed with difficulty not yet
mentioned--one which threatens divis-
ion among those. who united. are none too
strong. An instance Of il is known to
you. Gen. Hunter is an honest man
He was. and hope still is, my friend
| valued him none the less for agreeing
with me in the general wish that all men
everywhere could be freed. He pro-
claimed all men free within certain States,
and ] repudiated the proclamation. He
expected more good and less harm from
the measure than l could believe would
follow. Yet, in rspudiating il, gave
dissatisfaction, If not offense, to many
whose support the country cannot afford
to lose. And this is not The end Of il.
The pressure in this direction is still up.
on me. and increasing. By conceding
what now ask you can relieve me. and |,
much more, can relieve the country in
this important point.


Upon these Considerations have again
begged yo1r attention to the Message of
March last. Before leaving the Capital.
consider and discuss il among yourselves.
You are patriots and statesmen, as such
pray you consider this proposition
and At the least commend il to the con-
sideralion Of your States and people. A,
you would perpstuate popular govern
ment for the best people in the world,
besesoh you that you do in no wise omit
this. Our common country is in grea,
peril. demanding the lofiest views aud
boldest action TO bring speedy relief
Once relieved. its form OF government il