Abraham Lincoln Edited by With a General Introduction by New and Enlarged Edition VOLUME XI New York FRANCIS D. TANDY COMPANY [C19055 Lincoln and Emancipation' A MONG the paintings hitherto assigned to places within the Capitol are two which mark events forever memorable in the history of mankind,-thrice memorable in the history of America. The first is the painting by Vanderlyn, which represents, though with inadequate force, the great discovery which gave to the civilized world a new hemisphere. The second, by Trumbull, represents that great Declaration which banished forever from our shores the crown and sceptre of imperial power, and proposed to found a new nation upon the broad and enduring basis of liberty. To-day we place upon our walls this votive tablet, which commemorates the third great act in the history of America,—the fulfilment of the promises of the Declaration. Concerning the causes which led to that act, 1 Speech delivered before the joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States presenting to Congress, on behalf of Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, Mr. F. B. Carpenter's painting, "The Signing of the Proclamation of Emancipation," on the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, February 12, 1878. the motives which inspired it, the necessities which compelled it, and the consequences which followed and are yet to follow it, there have been, there are, and still will be great and honest differences of opinion. Perhaps we are yet too near the great events of which this act formed so conspicuous a part, to understand its deep significance and to foresee its far-off consequences. The lesson of history is rarely learned by the actors themselves, especially when they read it by the fierce and dusky light of war, or amid the deeper shadows of those sorrows which war brings to both. But the unanimous voice of this House in favor of accepting the gift, and the impressive scene we here witness, bear eloquent testimony to the transcendent importance of the event portrayed on yonder canvas. Let us pause to consider the actors in that scene. In force of character, in thoroughness and breadth of culture, in experience of public affairs, and in national reputation, the Cabinet that sat around that council-board has had no superior, perhaps no equal in our history. Seward, the finished scholar, the consummate orator, the great leader of the Senate, had come to crown his career with those achievements which placed him in the first rank of modern diplomatists. Chase, with a culture and a fame of massive grandeur, stood as the rock and pillar of the public credit, the noble embodiment of the public faith. Stanton was there, a very Titan of strength, the great organizer of victory. Eminent lawyers, men of business, leaders of States and leaders of men, completed the group. But the man who presided over that council, who inspired and guided its deliberations, was a character so unique that he stood alone, without a model in history or a parallel among men. Born on this day sixty-nine years ago to an inheritance of extremest poverty; surrounded by the rude forces of the wilderness; wholly unaided by parents; only one year in any school; never, for a day, master of his own time until he reached his majority; making his way to the profession of the law by the hardest and roughest road; yet by force of unconquerable will and persistent, patient work, he attained a foremost place in his profession, And, moving up from high to higher, The centre of a world's desire. At first it was the prevailing belief that he would be only the nominal head of his administration, -that its policy would be directed by the eminent statesmen he had called to his council. |