he great
transcendent question, involving the liberty of our country and mankind,
and I can give no vote which subjects it to the slightest peril. Save
the Union, and all else will be added in time (including the _ultimate_
downfall of Slavery, which I predicted and advocated in January, 1844),
has been the doctrine of my life. To that doctrine I still adhere, but
support the President's emancipation policy _now_, because it is the
most efficient, if not the only means of saving and perpetuating the
Union. I opposed emancipation when it was unconstitutional as a _peace
measure_, and because I knew it would cause civil war, invite foreign
intervention, and endanger the Union. I support emancipation now,
because it is constitutional as a war measure, greatly diminishes the
danger of foreign intervention, and insures the maintenance and
perpetuity of the Union. I supported Judge Douglas and opposed the
election of Mr. Lincoln in 1860, because I believed it would imperil the
Union. While always denying that his election would justify disunion, I
feared that the rebellion would be the result. In voting against Mr.
Lincoln in 1860, I did so to save the Union from peril. In voting for
him now, it is to suppress the rebellion and maintain the Union. It is
not for Mr. Lincoln as a man (however worthy he may be), that I now
vote--I vote for principles--I vote for the Union--and in supporting
him, I vote for the best, if not the only means to maintain and
perpetuate the Union.

But there is another principle of vital importance involved in this
election. The South, under the banner of Slavery, proceeded to secede
from the Union, immediately after the result of the Presidential
election of 1860 was made known. South Carolina seceded in December,
1860. Mississippi followed early in January, 1861, and the Cotton States
all followed during that and the succeeding month of February. Now, Mr.
Lincoln was not and could not be inaugurated as President until March,
1861. The South did not and would not wait for his inaugural address of
that date to know, under the new condition of affairs, what would be the
policy of his Administration. They did not and would not wait for any
measures of his Administration, much less any act of the Government or
of Congress, but proceeded to secede merely because Mr. Lincoln had been
constitutionally elected to the Presidency by the people of the United
States. Such an act was an overthrow of the great fun