Isaac N. Arnold

“ Had the President, yielding to popular clamor, accepted the challenge of Great Britain and gone to war, he would have done exactly what the rebels desired, and would have thus made Mason and Slidell incomparably more useful to the Confederates than they were after their surrender, and while hanging around the back doors of the Courts to which they were sent, but at which they were never received. No one can calculate the results which would have followed upon a refusal to surrender these men. ”

“ It was he who, on the prairies of Illinois, had contested the palm of eloquence with Lincoln and Douglas, who had gone to California and pronounced the memorable oration over Senator Broderic, and who, going thence to Oregon, came to Washington as senator from that state.
Andrew Johnson, in reply to Breckenridge, on the 27th of July, quoted the remark: "When traitors become numerous enough, treason becomes respectable. Yet," said he, "God willing, whether traitors be many or few, as I have heretofore waged war against traitors and treason, I intend to continue to the end." ”

“ Chase as Secretary of the Treasury, was a very able and learned New England senator. Ever ready, well informed, keen, witty, and sarcastic, as a general debater he had no superior.
At this its first session, Congress inaugurated that series of measures against slavery, which, in connection with the action of the President and the victories of the Union soldiers, resulted in its destruction. Among its members, known distinctly as an abolitionist, was Owen Lovejoy; a man, as has been stated, of powerful frame, strong feelings, and great personal magnetism as a speaker. ”

“ On the death of Lovejoy, in 1864, Lincoln said: "Throughout my heavy and perplexing responsibilities here (at Washington) , to the day of his death, it would scarcely wrong any other to say: he was my most generous friend." [5]
There were, in the border states, many Union men who desired to maintain the Union, and who wished also, that there should be no interference with slavery. These, with the small band of anti-slavery men in Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, had rendered efficient aid in preventing those states from seceding. ”

“ As an illustration of those days and debates, let us recall an incident which occurred in the Senate, on the first of August, a few days after the battle of Bull Run. Senator Baker, of Oregon, Lincoln's old friend and competitor, and his successor in Congress from the Springfield district, was making a brilliant and impassioned reply to a speech of Breckenridge. Charles Sumner, speaking of this, and alluding to Breckenridge, said: "A senator with treason in his heart, if not on his lips, has just taken his seat." ”

“ His rebuke of the disloyal sentiments of Breckenridge was severe, and in the highest degree dramatic, and worthy of the best days of that Roman eloquence to which he alluded.
"What" said he, "would the senator from Kentucky have? These speeches of his, sown broadcast over the land; what clear, distinct meaning have they? Are they not intended for disorganization in our very midst? Are they not intended to destroy our zeal? Are they not intended to animate our enemies? Sir, are they not words of brilliant, polished treason ”

“ When the war began, John C. Fremont was in Paris. He immediately returned home, was appointed a Major General, and given command of the Western Department, embracing Missouri and a part of Kentucky. On the 30th of August, he issued an order declaring martial law throughout Missouri, confiscating the property of rebels, and saying: "Their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared free men." [8]
This grave act was done without consulting the President, and severely embarrassed the Executive in the efforts he was making to retain Maryland, Kentucky, and other border states, in the Union. ”

“ I am not quite confident that we shall overrun the Southern states, as we shall have to overrun them, without severe trials of our courage and patience. I believe they are a brave, determined people filled with enthusiasm, false in its purpose as I think, but still one which animates almost all classes of their population. ”

“ Owen Lovejoy lives at Princeton, Illinois, and he aids every fugitive that comes to his door and asks it. Thou invisible demon of slavery! Dost thou think to cross my humble threshold, and forbid me to give bread to the hungry and shelter to the homeless? I bid you defiance in the name of God." [4]
On the 6th of August, a bill introduced by Senator Trumbull, giving freedom to all slaves used by the rebels in carrying on the war became a law. ”

“ Senator Hale, of New Hampshire, went so far as to threaten the administration of Mr. Lincoln.
"If," said he, "this administration will not listen to the voice of the people, they will find themselves engulphed in a fire that will consume them like stubble; they will be helpless before a power that will hurl them from their places."
See Congressional Globe, 2d Session 37th Congress, January 7, 1862, p. ”

“ The chair of the late senator, now the rebel President, Jefferson Davis, those of the blustering and fiery Bob Toombs, of the accomplished Hunter, of the polished and learned Jew from Louisiana, Judah P. Benjamin, of the haughty and pretentious Mason, of the crafty and unscrupulous Slidell, and of their compeers, who had been accustomed to domineer over the Senate, were all vacant. ”

“ No instance in which Lincoln ever acted from private resentment towards any individual, or nation, can be found. Towards individuals who had injured him, he was ever magnanimous, and often more than just ”

“ On the 15th of July, on motion of General John A. McClernand, the House, by a vote of one hundred and twenty-one to five, adopted a resolution pledging itself to vote any amount of money and any number of men which might be necessary, to ensure a speedy and effectual suppression of the rebellion. ”