prosperity? Is it remarkable that he should regard as his enemy the man
who preaches against and denounces as criminal the very system in which
he trusts his social and political safety? He will not regard that
apparent enemy what at heart and soul he really is, namely, a man as
pure and devout, as well meaning and conscientious as himself. The man
whom he scoffs at as a 'radical,' an 'abolitionist,' and a 'fanatic,' by
education and intuition believes in his very soul that the holding of
men in bondage, forcing from them involuntary labor, and the
consequences thereof, are pregnant with moral and political ruin and
decay. The system, not the men, is offensive to his eyes. Is he to blame
for this opinion, provided it be well founded in his mind? Admit it
eroneous in logic, still, if he believes it, is he to be condemned for
holding the belief, and would he not be contemptible in his own eyes if
he feared to express the moral convictions of his soul? The error of
both has been that both are uncharitable--both unwilling to allow the
right of opinion and freedom of debate on what both, as American
citizens, hold to be vital principles, dependent upon constitutional
provisions; the one claiming Slavery as the 'corner stone of political
freedom,' the other as the stumbling block in the way of its
advancement. This unwillingness to appreciate the motives of opposing
minds led at last one section of our beloved country to an unwillingness
to recognize the right of election, and, worse than all, an
unwillingness to abide by the results of that election. When that
principle--submission to the will of the majority--was overthrown, then,
indeed, did the pillars of our national temple tremble, and the seat of
our national power rock in its foundation.

And now a word in connection with this same principle of submission, as
applicable to the people of the North in our present emergency. In
accordance with the plan adopted by the founders of our Government, and
practically illustrated in the election of George Washington and his
successors, the people by a plurality of votes elected to office and
placed at the head of our political system as its highest authority and
ruler, the present Chief Magistrate. From the day of his acknowledged
election, party politics settled into the calm of acquiescence, and all
loyal and true States and men bowed to the arbitrament of the ballot
box. That man, Abraham Lincoln, instantly became invested w