himself on record as opposed to
slavery, but perhaps nowhere more tersely and unequivocally than in
these words: "There is no reason in the world why the negro is not
entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of
Independence--the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
_I hold that he is as much entitled to them as the white man._" But his
respect for the laws of the land deterred him from measures that might
seem of doubtful constitutionality, and he waited patiently until the
right hour had struck before he issued the edict of emancipation so
eagerly demanded by a large class of earnest and loyal people at the
North. Many of these people, misunderstanding his views and intentions,
were very impatient; and their criticisms and expostulations were a
constant burden to the sorely tried Executive.

In June of this year (1862) the President was waited on by a deputation
of Quakers, or Friends, fifteen or twenty in number, who had been
charged by the Yearly Meeting of their association to present a "minute"
to the President on the subject of slavery and the duty of immediate
emancipation. The visit of these excellent people was not altogether
timely. Bad news had been received from McClellan's army on the
Peninsula, and Lincoln was harassed with cares and anxieties. But he
gave the deputation a cordial though brief greeting, as he announced
that he was ready to hear from the Friends. In the reading of the
minute, it appeared that the document took occasion to remind the
President that, years before, he had said, "I believe that this
Government cannot permanently endure half slave and half free," and from
this was implied a suggestion of his failure to perform his duty as he
had then seen it. Lincoln was decidedly displeased with this criticism;
and after the document had been read to the close, he received it from
the speaker, then drawing himself up, he said, with unusual severity of
manner: "It is true that on the 17th of June, 1858, I said, 'I believe
that this Government cannot permanently endure half slave and half
free,' but I said it in connection with other things from which it
should not have been separated in an address discussing moral
obligations; for this is a case in which the repetition of half a truth,
in connection with the remarks just read, produces the effect of a whole
falsehood. What I did say was, 'If we could first know where we are, and
whither we are tending, w