If I Am To Be

Slavery Exists. It Is Black In The South, And White In The North.

I Tell Our Sisters In The South That So Far As Tennessee Is Concerned She Will Not Be Dragged Into A Southern Or Any Other Confederacy Until She Has Had Time To Consider; And Then She Will Go When She Believes It To Be Her Interest, And Not Before.

Notwithstanding A Mendacious Press; Notwithstanding A Subsidized Gang Of Hirelings Who Have Not Ceased To Traduce Me, I Have Discharged All My Official Duties And Fulfilled My Pledges. And I Say Here Tonight That If My Predecessor Had Lived, The Vials Of Wrath Would Have Poured Out Upon Him.

I Have Been Almost Overwhelmed By The Announcement Of The Sad Event [lincoln's Assassination] Which Has So Recently Occurred. I Feel Incompetent To Perform Duties So Important And Responsible As Those Which Have Been So Unexpectedly Thrown Upon Me.

The Life Of A Republic Lies Certainly In The Energy, Virtue, And Intelligence Of Its Citizens.