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''Abe'' Lincoln's Yarns and Stories - University of Macau Library

''Abe'' Lincoln's Yarns and Stories - University of Macau Library

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<strong>Yarns</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Stories</strong>, by Alex<strong>and</strong>er K. McClure 415speech:"In your h<strong>and</strong>s, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen," he said, "<strong>and</strong> not inmine, is the momentous issue <strong>of</strong> civil war. The Government will not assailyou."You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. Youhave no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shallhave the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect <strong>and</strong> defend' it."I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not beenemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds <strong>of</strong>affection."The mystic cord <strong>of</strong> memory, stretching from every battle-field <strong>and</strong> patriotgrave to every living heart <strong>and</strong> hearthstone all over this broad l<strong>and</strong>, will yetswell the chorus <strong>of</strong> the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be,by the better angels <strong>of</strong> our nature."FOLLOWS PRECEDENT OF WASHINGTON.In selecting his Cabinet, Mr. Lincoln, consciously or unconsciously,followed a precedent established by Washington, <strong>of</strong> selecting men <strong>of</strong>almost opposite opinions. His Cabinet was composed <strong>of</strong> William H.Seward <strong>of</strong> New York, Secretary <strong>of</strong> State; Salmon P. Chase <strong>of</strong> Ohio,Secretary <strong>of</strong> the Treasury; Simon Cameron <strong>of</strong> Pennsylvania, Secretary <strong>of</strong>War; Gideon E. Welles <strong>of</strong> Connecticut, Secretary <strong>of</strong> the Navy; Caleb B.Smith <strong>of</strong> Indiana, Secretary <strong>of</strong> the Interior; Montgomery Blair <strong>of</strong> Maryl<strong>and</strong>,Postmaster-General; Edward Bates <strong>of</strong> Missouri, Attorney-General.Mr. Chase, although an anti-slavery leader, was a States-Rights FederalRepublican, while Mr. Seward was a Whig, without having connectedhimself with the anti-slavery movement.Mr. Chase <strong>and</strong> Mr. Seward, the leading men <strong>of</strong> Mr. <strong>Lincoln's</strong> Cabinet, wereas widely apart <strong>and</strong> antagonistic in their views as were Jefferson, the

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