Josiah Gilbert Holland

“ The twelfth day of February was remarkably sunny and cheerful, and a large concourse of citizens had assembled to give Mr. Lincoln greeting and to catch a glimpse of his face. All the streets leading to the railroad depot were thronged with people; and the windows and roofs and every perch from which a lookout could be obtained were occupied. It took a large force of military and police to keep the way clear. A distant cannon announced the approach of the train, and then there went up from the multitude such a cheer as such a multitude alone can give. ”

“ We mean to treat you as near as we possibly can as Washington, Jefferson and Madison treated you. We mean to leave you alone and in no way to interfere with your institutions, to abide by all and every compromise of the Constitution; and, in a word, coming back to the original proposition to treat you as far as degenerate men, if we have degenerated, may, according to the examples of those noble fathers Washington, Jefferson and Madison. We mean to remember that you are as good as we--that there is no difference us--other than the difference of circumstances. ”

“ In my devotion to the Union, I hope I am behind no man in the nation. In the wisdom with which to conduct the affairs tending to the preservation of the Union, I fear that too great confidence may have been reposed in me; but I am sure that I bring a heart devoted to the work. There is nothing that could ever bring me to willingly consent to the destruction of this Union, under which not only the great commercial city of New York, but the whole country, acquired its greatness, except it be the purpose for which the Union itself was formed. ”

“ But if the United States should merely hold and retake its own forts and other property, and collect the duties on foreign importations, or even withhold the mails from places where they were habitually violated, would any or all of these things be 'invasion' or 'coercion?' Do our professed lovers of the Union, who spitefully resolve that they will resist coercion and invasion, understand that such things as these, on the part of the United States, would be coercion or invasion of a state? ”

“ Washington itself was full of treason. It was the prevailing spirit of all the fashionable life of the national capital. All the governmental departments were crowded with it. It was the talk of the hotels. Loyalty was snubbed and dishonored. Maryland, though she had passed no ordinance of secession, was disloyal. The sympathies of the higher classes of Baltimore were all with the traitors. ”

“ Upon what principle, upon what rightful principle, may a state, being no more than one-fiftieth part of the nation in soil and population, break up the nation, and then coerce a proportionably larger subdivision of itself in the most arbitrary way? What mysterious right to play tyrant is conferred on a district or country with its people, by merely calling it a state? Fellow-citizens, I am not asserting any thing. ”

“ Never since the memorable time our patriotic fathers gave existence to the American Republic, have the people looked with such intensity of feeling to the inauguration and future policy of a President, as they do to yours. I need not assure you that the people of Ohio have full confidence in your ability and patriotism, and will respond to you in their loyalty to the Union and the Constitution. It would seem, sir, that the great problem of self-government is to be solved under your administration. ”

“ There were not wanting men in the North whose sympathies were with the traitors, and who would willingly and gladly have joined them in the attempt to revolutionize the government, by preventing Mr. Lincoln from taking his seat, and delivering over Washington and the government to the plotters. Indeed, many of the traitors openly declared that by secession they did not mean secession at all, but revolution. Commerce and manufactures begged for peace at the slaveholder's price, whatever it might be. ”

“ I have often inquired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from the mother-land, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but, I hope, to the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men. This is a sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, my friends, can this country be saved upon this basis? ”

“ It is the earnest and united prayer of our people, that the same kind Providence which protected us in our colonial struggles, and has attended us thus far in our prosperity and greatness, will so imbue your mind with wisdom, that you may dispel the dark clouds that hang over our political horizon, and thereby secure the return of harmony and fraternal feeling to our now distracted and unhappy country. ”

“ He had been aware, ever since he left Springfield, that men were seeking for his life. An attempt was made to throw the train off the track that bore him out of Springfield; and at Cincinnati a hand grenade was found concealed upon the train. The fear excited by these hostile demonstrations was an indefinite one, but on his arrival at Philadelphia the plot was all unfolded to him.
Before Mr. Lincoln left home it was whispered about that he would never be permitted to pass through Baltimore alive; and a detective of great experience and skill was put to the task of ferreting out the conspiracy. ”

“ Lincoln was called for, when he appeared, and made the following brief address:
"Fellow citizens of the State of Indiana: I am here to thank you much for this magnificent welcome, and still more for the very generous support given by your state to that political cause, which I think is the true and just cause of the whole country and the whole world. Solomon says 'there is a time to keep silence;' and when men wrangle by the mouth, with no certainty that they mean the same thing while using the same words, it perhaps were as well if they would keep silence. ”

“ Lincoln had found that there were things to talk about besides policy, and that it was better to yield himself up to the impulse of the moment than to be under the constant fear of saying some imprudent thing, concerning the character of the crisis and the policy of the incoming administration.
The reception at the city of New York was such as only New York can give. Places of business were generally closed, and the streets presented such crowds as only a city numbering a million of people can produce. ”

“ There is no country where the people can turn out and enjoy this day precisely as they please, save under the benign influence of the free institutions of our land. I hope that, although we have some threatening national difficulties now, while these free institutions shall continue to be in the enjoyment of millions of free people of the United States, we will see repeated every four years what we now witness. ”

“ Mr. Lincoln had before him, on this journey, one of the most difficult tasks of his life. The country was very anxious to get some hint as to his policy. This hint he did not intend to give, until he should be obliged to give it officially. His task, then, of talking without saying anything, was not only a new one, but it was one for which he had no talent. He had never acquired, and could never acquire, the faculty of uttering graceful and acceptable nothings. Give him something to talk about, and he could talk. Give him a knotty point to argue, and he could argue ”

“ While I am exceedingly gratified to see the manifestation upon your streets of your military force here, and exceedingly gratified at your promise here to use that force upon a proper emergency--while I make these acknowledgments, I desire to repeat, in order to preclude any possible misconstruction, that I do most sincerely hope that we shall have no use for them; that it will never become their duty to shed blood, and most especially never to shed fraternal blood. ”

“ Notwithstanding the troubles across the river, there is really no crisis springing from anything in the Government itself. In plain words, there is really no crisis except an artificial one. What is there now to warrant the condition of affairs presented by our friends over the river? Take even their own view of the questions involved, and there is nothing to justify the course which they are pursuing. I repeat it, then, there is no crisis, except such a one as may be gotten up at any time by turbulent men, aided by designing politicians. ”

“ Lincoln's strong and ever present conviction that he was only a humble instrument in the hands of a higher power. He recognized the people as one of the higher powers which held him in service, and his illustration of his position, drawn from his office in raising the flag over Independence Hall, was extremely beautiful. ”

“ All nations are deeply interested in its solution, and they wait with breathless anxiety to know whether this form of government, which has been the admiration of the world, is to be a failure or not. ”

“ To be sure, after all, I would be at liberty to modify and change the course of policy, as future events might make a change necessary.
"I have not maintained silence from any want of real anxiety. It is a good thing that there is no more than anxiety, for there is nothing going wrong. It is a consoling circumstance that when we look out there is nothing that really hurts anybody. We entertain different views upon political questions, but nobody is suffering anything. ”

“ He looked somewhat worn with travel and the fatigues of popularity, but warmed to the cordiality of his reception."
After the conclusion of the formalities in the hall, Mr. Lincoln went to the western steps of the Capitol, to say a word to the people. The address he made here consisted simply of commonplaces and phrases that had already become hackneyed. The hand-shaking that succeeded was something fearful. Every man in the crowd was anxious to wrench the hand of Abraham Lincoln. ”

“ After some difficulty the party reached their carriages, and then the crowd went wild with enthusiasm, cheering the President and the Union, Mr. Lincoln rising in the carriage with uncovered head, and acknowledging the greetings that met him at every crossing. Mr. Lincoln's carriage was drawn by six white horses, and was surrounded by a detachment of police to keep off the crowd. Mayor Bishop occupied a seat by his side. All along the route of the procession houses were decorated with the national colors, and various devices for expressing personal and patriotic feeling. ”

“ Enforce the laws and save our country! Here's your health!" From the depot to the Burnet House, he rode through a dense mass of men, women and children, who took every mode of expressing their enthusiastic good will. It would have been impossible for Cincinnati to do more to receive an emperor or reward a conqueror.
The Burnet House was reached at five o'clock, and soon afterwards Mr. Lincoln appeared upon the balcony. Mayor Bishop introduced him to the people and gave him a formal welcome "in the name of the people of all classes." ”

“ If the great American people will only keep their temper on both sides of the line, the trouble will come to an end, and the question which now distracts the country will be settled just as surely as all other difficulties of like character which have originated in this Government have been adjusted. Let the people on both sides keep their self-possession, and just as other clouds have cleared away in due time, so will this, and this great nation shall continue to prosper as heretofore. ”

“ Lincoln should reach Baltimore safely, that, on a given signal, he should be shot by those who should gather in the guise of friends around his carriage, and that hand grenades should complete the work of destruction which the pistol had commenced. ”

“ On the morning of the thirteenth, the party started for Columbus, the capital of Ohio. The scenes of the previous day were repeated on the route, in the gathering of large crowds at all the intermediate stations. The reception in Columbus had been a fortnight in preparation, the legislature taking the initiative. At noon, on the thirteenth, it was calculated that five thousand strangers were in the city. As the time approached for the arrival of the train, the crowd around the depot became almost overwhelming. ”

“ If sick, the little pills of the homoeopathist would be much too large for it to swallow. In their view, the Union, as a family relation, would seem to be no regular marriage, but rather a sort of 'free-love' arrangement, to be maintained on passional attraction. ”

“ In the meantime, if we have patience, it we maintain our equanimity, though some may allow themselves to run off in a burst of passion, I still have confidence that the Almighty Ruler of the universe, through the instrumentality of this great and intelligent people, can and will bring us through this difficulty, as he has heretofore brought us through all preceding difficulties of the country. ”