Mississippi State University Scholars Junction Pamphlets Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana 1864 Address by the Union League of Philadelphia, to the Citizens of Pennsylvania, in Favor of the Re-election of Abraham Lincoln. Union League of Philadelphia. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/fvw-pamphlets Preferred Citation [Physical ID#]: [Item Title], Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana, Mississippi State University Libraries. This Pamphlet is brought to you for free and open access by the Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana at Scholars Junction. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pamphlets by an authorized administrator of Scholars Junction. For more information, please contact scholcomm@msstate.libanswers.com. ADDRESS BY TO THE CITIZENS OF PENNSYLVANIA, U' FAVOR OF TBR RB·ELBCTIO:S- OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. PHIL.A.DELPHI.A.: KING & BAIRD, PRINTERS, G07 SANSO:\! STREB'!'. l 8 6 4. ADDRESS. F ELLO\\" CITIZ.SXS :-'.l'he day rapidly approaches when some one must be selected to exercise the power a,nd influence of the Executive branch of our Government during another term. Tho time h,i,s been when the character of the person chosen has excited but little interest beyond the circle of active politicians, because in the midst of peace and abounding prosperity, it was not considered of much importance. Easy duties tlo not demand grcat ta.lent, or peculiar qualities, and the duties of the Executive office arc not difficult in such quiet times as it h,is been the happiness of our country to enjoy during the larger part of its history. liut now our position is very different. We are in the midst of a grc,it civil war, which has raged for more than three year~, the issue of which is still doubtful, and which may, when the day for making a choice arrives, still be calling for more sacrifices to be offered on its bloody altar. '!'he stake in this war is no less than our country. The object of our enemies is to destroy it-ours is to defend it, to keep its domain entire as we received it from our fathers, to keep its n,unc and fame high, as of yore, on the roll of the nations of the world. '.J'his has proved to be a difficult task, calling forth all our energy and demanding enormous sacrifices of blood and treasure. Our enemies are men of our own race. They have displayed the rnlor, constancy and ability that are the attributes of their blood and the fruits of free institutions. It will not be easy to subdue such :i, people, notwithstanding our superior power antl vast r~sourccs, and when their military strength is subdued, it m,ty not be very easy to convert them 4 from cuemios to friends. Y ct this two-fold task lies before us. W c must subdue the rebellion, conquer and disperse its :trmics and force it to lay down its arms, not in submission to us, but to the majesty of the law, to the just authority of our Government. We must also convert the Southern people into friends and contented fellow-citizens. W c do not desire them as subjects, as disaffected and conquered enemies, as a Y cnctia or Poland, dangerous alike in peace or war, and a contradic-tion to every principle of republican government. We desire to bring them back to ps to share our rights, to participate in the blessings of a restored Union, and to help us build up again, higher and more glorious than ever, the edifice of our country's greatness. These two things, therefore, are what we must do. To succeed in the first and not in the second, would be to fail, for the first is to the second as means to end. It must be obvious to every one capable of thinking on tho subject at all, that virtues and abilities, civil and military, of no common order, are necessary to execute this scheme, and that these must be possessed, not by one only, but by many or all of those to whom the powers of the Government arc entrusted. These :ire not times for ignorance, imbecility, folly, corruption, or even mediocrity in high places. They arc, indeed, never in such places appropriately or rightfully, but now, more than at any former period, it behooves us to place great power in competent hands. Integrity, courage, talents, knowledge, are necessary to sa ,,e the country in this its hour of trial and danger. And because it is a time of danger from war and its consequences, the Executive Depart-ment is especially called upon for prompt, determined, wise and prudent action. If the Government be weak there, it will be weak in everything necessary for its defence against the numerous enemies, open and covert, foreign and domestic, by which it is assailed. The army and navy, the finances, the diplomacy-these are the provinces that now demand adminis-trative ability for their successful management. They demand wisdom and prudence, liberal and national views and pur-5 poses, freedom from partisan passions or designs, freedom from selfish and ambitious personal objects. The President is the head of the Executive Department. Uc is the Counnandcr-in-c!tief of the Army and Navy. He appoints the members of the Cabinet. Ile has a general supervision and control oYcr their action. Whatever they arc, he 1,anctio11s; whatever they do, he docs and is responsible for. Ile is the guiding and sustaining spirit and will of Exccutirn power, and its action will be in harmony ,rith his character. For this reason, fellow citizens, aml with a deep and solemn sense of the responsibility we assume, and of the vast conse-quences i1wolvcd in your dcci:,;ion, "·c come forward to urge upon you the re-election of Abraham Lincoln. The fact that Mr. Lincoln is now the President, signally illustrates the nature of our government and the genius of our people; the one offering free scope to all ability, the other cager· :md aspiring, ever striving to reach a wider sphere antl higher eminence. Mr. Lincoln is of humble origin. His earliest home was a, log-cabin in the West. His eyes first opened on an untamed forest, in which his father's axe had made a little clearing. As he was forest born, so he was forest bred. llis strength of mind and body was deYelopcd by the labors aneclaratiou of Independence; if you have listened to suggestions that woul, indcc,1, is a nation if, in its hour of need, the great man comes when he is callc(l, and can be accepted. He always cxi~ts, but often he is known only to a few, and cannot be rccognize0, and they 11omiuntc1l him as the ea1Hlin•d :--o foll of great en11t:-, nce1l not now lit• told. '.l'he rival of Mr. Dou;:las, \'ictorious in argument, though defcatc(l in ,·otes, had n·ache,l a higher place than t•ithor aspirctl to, wlwn they cliscn~secl the question of Sla,·ory in the 'J'erritories l,c!'urc the pcq,:c or Illinoi,-. 'l'he i;eene was changetl, the autlienco was larger, the subject halaying in thunder tones throughout the land, to close, we hopo and believe, in an exulting finale of victory and triumph; a victory, not of arms only but of reason; ancl a triumph, not of conquerors but of patriots, north and south, rejoicing over a restored country antl a permanent peace, so that the last words of Mr. Lincoln's speech may 17 prove prophetic, which declare, that "The mystic chonh of memory, stretching from c,·ery hattlc field and patriot gra,·e to every living heart an thus la•en trieil antl uot found wanting? Who has such cxpm·iencc of the past, who knows the currents of opiniou, the characters of leatliug men, the strength or the weakness of our cause, so well as he who has studied them from the fir:;t, and with larger means of know-le1lge than any one else can com111a111l '! What ~cw man can enter his place with the information he possesses? What inexperienced hand can finii;h the work he has i,o successfully begun~ And who ehuui:-;hmcnt is justice. 'l'he world is defrauded wlwn a great crime fails to meet merited retrihutio11-arnl treason i:-; the highest crime. To abolish slaYcry is justice, when it can be done without inflicting injuries greater than its own. Slavery is a crime. .A!< ~Ir. Lincoln l'aid recently, '· if it be not wrong, then nothing is wrong." Because it is wrong, it is an evil, as the condition of the South and of all other places where it lias existed may testify. '.l'hc recognition of slavery was the fatal error of our Constitution, as the dis-cor,l it has caused from the brginning and the pre1\\ •r, whcucYcr allll whercv·cr P.tatc power has never exi,..kd. or has ccase1l to cxi:,;t, in fact or in law: an\\'.A.RD SHIPl'E:-;', Ih:xJ'N. I I. BmlWoTER, J. I. CLARK Il.\RE. ALGERXuN S. Rommt:<, UIWIWE II. Boi.:1-:n. Joux II. 'J'owxE. ,losEPII I Lrnm,:o:-;, JR., 0.\DW.-\LAJIER J311lDLI:, JAMES ll. ORXE, THOMAS Ihnen. J. L. CLAUHOR:-;'. l•'nEDEllI<'K FR.\LF.\". ,f..Ul ES W. p .H'L. (J IUSON l'1•JACOCK, D.\:'\IEL SmTu. JR .. lfowrn GmrnLE, AN1m1:w W11EELI::1:. .T. O. K::,;ox, W ILLIA)l S. PIEltr'E, 29 J. G ILLIXGJl.\)f FELL, '\\'11,r.1.ni D. LEWIS, LTXIILEY ~MJ:TJT, W,1YXE l\luYEAn11, "' JI,r.1.rn 11. A,:HnunsT, Jo11x Rrrn, Gi:01urn Bur,LOCK, SAMl'fJL J. REE\'!:", "'11,LIAM STRUTillm:-, F. A. Cu:-tLY, CnArn D. Hrrcnrn, S.A:.1ugL Tl. J>En10Ns, SAl XDEHS LEWIS, EDWARD S. l\I.aw:-;oN, W.uw B. ll.\s}:l.T1xi-:, Sn:P11EN COLWELL, w1ur.D1 s•,LLEns, .At:llUSTU:- ITEATOX, J. G. ~kQl'ADE, S. JI. Ilou1-nrAx::i, IlENRY D. ~Ioo1n:, E. IL CoPE, FAlRllL.\.X RO(:ERS, lIAN:-lO~ HomXf>ON, A mu HA)l B.\RKim, G. J)Awsox CoLI,MA:,;, E. w. CJ.\HK, G 1-:0RGE .T. GROSS, '\YM. :'IL Trr.GIDIAN, H.. I>. Kr:-;u, FE1:111~.\Nll J. DRmm, E. SPE~WER MILLER, Jos. B. 'l'owxsi::xo, GBO. PLU~lER SMITH, JOHN P. YERRJrn, Hmmy C. LEA, GEORGE 'l'ROTT, J,L,rns C. IIA:rn, 30 A. D. JESSUP, WILLIA~! H. Krnx, A. G. CATJ'Ef,L, '.J.'IIOMAS S. ELLIS, GEoRrrn ERETY, ARCIIIllALD GETTY, E. w. BAILl,Y. Committee of Seventy-six appointed by tlie Union League of Philadelplda.

Three Great Speeches

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Three Great Speeches

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