Lincoln on Democracy

"THE LIMB MUST BE SACRIFICED"

Lincoln and Democracy, 1863-1865 "THE LIMB MUST BE SACRIFICED" Informal Remarks on U.S.-British Relations to George Thompson and Others, the White House [APRIL 7, 1864] 319 Lincoln was in the audience when English antislavery spokesman George Thompson spoke in the Capitol on April 6. The following day, Thompson visited the White House to assure the President that in his country "the great heart of the masses beat in sympathy with the North." This is Lincoln's reply, as recalled by artist Francis B. Carpenter. Mr. Thompson the people of Great Britain, and of other foreign governments, were in one great error in reference to this conflict. They seemed to think that, the moment I was President, I had the power to abolish slavery, forgetting that, before I could have any power whatever , I had to take the oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and execute the laws as I found them. When the Rebellion broke out, my duty did not admit of a question. That was, first, by all strictly lawful means to endeavor to maintain the integrity of the government. I did not consider that I had a right to touch the "State" institution of "Slavery" until all other measures for restoring the Union had failed. The paramount idea ofthe constitution is the preservation ofthe Union. It may not be specified in so many words, but that this was the idea of its founders is evident; for, without the Union, the constitution would be worthless. It seems clear, then, that in the last extremity, if any local institution threatened the existence of the Union, the Executive could not hesitate as to his duty. In our case, the moment came when I felt that slavery must die that the nation might live! I have sometimes used the illustration in this connection of a man with a diseased limb, and his surgeon. So long as there is a chance ofthe patient's restoration, the surgeon is solemnly bound to try to save both life and limb; but when the crisis comes, and the limb must be sacrificed as the only chance of saving the life, no honest man will hesitate. Many of my strongest supporters urged Emancipation before I 320 LINCOLN ON DEMOCRACY thought it indispensable, and, I may say, before I thought the country ready for it. It is my conviction that, had the proclamation been issued even six months earlier than it was, public sentiment would not have sustained it. Just so, as to the subsequent action in reference to enlisting blacks in the Border States. The step, taken sooner, could not, in my judgment, have been carried out. A man watches his pear-tree day after day, impatient for the ripening of the fruit. Let him attempt to force the process, and he may spoil both fruit and tree. But let him patiently wait, and the ripe pear at length falls into his lap! We have seen this great revolution in public sentiment slowly but surely progressing, so that, when final action came, the opposition was not strong enough to defeat the purpose. I can now solemnly assert that I have a clear conscience in regard to my action on this momentous question. I have done what no man could have helped doing, standing in my place. "A GOOD DEFINITION OF THE WORD LIBERTY" From an Address at "Sanitary Fair, " Baltimore, Maryland [APRIL 18, 1864] Lincoln made this little speech during one of his rare presidential trips, to Baltimore, for a war charity fair that raised $40,000. Only three years earlier, anti-Union sentiment in Baltimore was running so high that Massachusetts troops on their way to the defense of Washington had been attacked on the streets. When the President-elect himselfpassed through Baltimore en route to his inauguration, "not one voice broke the stillness to cheer me, " Lincoln wrote in a section ofthis speech he decided to delete. Actually, he had slipped through the city in secret that night because of assassination threats. ...