hall take the liberty of presenting it in full:

"Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives:
I am not insensible to the patriotic motives which have prompted
you to do me the honor to invite me to address you on the momentous
issues now presented in the condition of our country. With a heart
filled with sadness and grief, I proceed to comply with your
request.

"For the first time since the adoption of the Federal Constitution,
a widespread conspiracy exists to destroy the best government the
sun of heaven ever shed its rays upon. Hostile armies are now
marching upon the Federal Capitol, with a view of planting a
revolutionary flag upon its dome; seizing the National archives;
taking captive the President elected by the votes of the people,
and holding him in the hands of secessionists and disunionists.
A war of aggression and of extermination is being waged against
the Government established by our fathers. The boast has gone
forth by the authorities of this revolutionary Government that on
the first day of May the revolutionary flag shall float from the
walls of the Capitol at Washington, and that on the fourth day of
July the Rebel army shall hold possession of the Hall of Independence
in Philadelphia.

"The simple question presented to us is, whether we will wait for
the enemy to carry out his boast of making war upon our soil; or
whether we will rush as one man to the defence of the Government
and its capital, and defend it from the hands of all assailants
who have threatened to destroy it. Already the piratical flag has
been unfurled against the commerce of the United States. Letters
of marque have been issued, appealing to the pirates of the world
to assemble under that revolutionary flag and commit depredations
on the commerce carried on under the Stars and Stripes. The
navigation of our great river into the Gulf of Mexico is obstructed.
Hostile batteries have been planted upon its banks; custom houses
have already been established; and we are now required to pay
tribute and taxes, without having a voice in making the laws imposing
them, or having a share in the proceeds after they have been
collected. The question is, whether this war of aggression shall
proceed, and we remain with folded arms, inattentive spectators;
or whether we shall meet the aggressors at the threshold and turn
back the tide of revolution and usurpation.

"So long as there was a hope of peaceful sol