But let us turn from the contemplation of the sufferings and sacrifices of this great war, to weigh the fruits of the victory which the country has by the blessing of God achieved.
First, It has been established once and for ever, that the people who dwell between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, the Great Lakes and the Gulf are a Nation—one and indivisible. That the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of this Nation; that this Nation exists, not as a partnership between States, but as a Government “of the people, by the people and for the people.” That State Sovereignty is an idea fundamentally and absolutely false and inconsistent with the Constitution. That it is indeed the “monster” which Washington called it in his letter of March 10, 1787, to John Jay.[*] That political sovereignty resides with the people alone in their collective capacity, and the only organ for its expression in matters affecting the National interests is the Constitution and Government of the United States. That all State Governments are based upon the principle of unconditional and perpetual loyalty to the Government of the United States, subordination to its power, and submission to its Constitution and laws. That the doctrine of secession is a folly and a crime. Nay, not only a crime, but, as the history of the war has proved, the compendium of all crimes. Since the formation of the Government, this wicked doctrine, the legitimate offspring of the flagitious heresy of State sovereignty, has laid in wait to undermine our strength and to assault our peace and prosperity. General Washington declared in his letter to Congress transmitting the Constitution framed by the Convention of which he was the President, “that the greatest interest of every true American was the consolidation of our Union, in which is involved our prosperity, felicity and safety.” The conspiracy, which had for its object the destruction of the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the principles of Washington, has met an overthrow more complete and a destruction more absolute than any which has ever attended any revolution of similar pretensions. State sovereignty and secession are absolutely and utterly destroyed by the war. No foundered ship that lies rotting in the soundless depths of the ocean is more deeply buried than they.
[*] Jay’s Life, vol. 1, p. 258.
Another effect of the war is the total destruction of the institution of slavery. The evil spirit which vexed us with continual alarms, which poisoned the very fountain of our National life, which denied and reviled the Declaration of Independence, which degraded us at home and disgraced us abroad, has been put to death by the war. It made the war. It perished by the war. Who now would seek to reanimate its revolting corse as it lies blackened and scathed by those very flames of war which it kindled for our destruction? It is true, we aimed not originally at its destruction. Neither did our ancestors in the beginning aim at independence. Even when in its arrogance and insolence it laid hold of the pillars of the Government and attempted to crush us beneath its falling fragments, we were for a long time too blind to see that its extermination was necessary for our safety. In the opening stages of the war we treated with tenderness and consideration the demon which was even then drenching the land with fraternal blood. But a Higher Power than that of man shapes the destinies of Nations as well as those of individuals.
In the proclamation of a fast by the Continental Congress in June, 1775, one of the motives for recommending it was stated to be, “to beseech the Almighty to bless our rightful sovereign King George III., and inspire him with wisdom.” This was after the battle of Lexington, and after the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. But one short year elapsed before the Congress declared of this “rightful sovereign King George III.,” in the immortal instrument, the promulgation of which we celebrate to-day, “A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” In 1775 Congress, in its address to the people of Great Britain, said: “You have been told that we are seditious, impatient of government and desirous of independency. Be assured that these are not facts but calumnies.” In their petition to the king they declared: “We ask but for peace, liberty, and safety. Your royal authority over us and our connexion with Great Britain we shall always carefully and zealously endeavor to support and maintain.” In less than a year they affixed their signatures to the paper which pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to that independence which they had thus so solemnly disclaimed. The commencement of the war and the rapid progress of events drove them to conclusions not embraced or contemplated in their original calculations. Does any one doubt the sincerity of the Continental Congress in their address to the people of Great Britain and their petition to the king? In his Inaugural Address, on the 4th of March, 1861, Abraham Lincoln said: “I declare that I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists;” and his acts and the policy of the Government were, as we know, consistent with that declaration. Does any one doubt now the sincerity of Abraham Lincoln when he made that declaration? Yet, on the 1st of January, 1863, he wrote “Abraham Lincoln” at the foot of that imperishable Proclamation which declares, “And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons:” adding solemnly, “And upon this act, believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.” An English earl, the leader of a great party and representative of the aristocracy of England, has lately given to the world a new translation of the Iliad, which has been much and no doubt justly praised. An emperor, also, straying into the fields of authorship, has written a life of that Cæsar who, like himself, overthrew the liberties of the people and erected upon the ruins of the Republic the standard of imperial absolutism. Weigh these labored efforts against the few grand words of our beloved and martyred President, and say which are the heaviest. Compare them, and say which will live the longest. Write them down in history, and say which will occupy the largest space. Consider which is the grandest, the praise bestowed upon the accomplished and titled peer and the imperial monarch, or the grateful ejaculations of the poor slave women of Richmond, who, as he proceeded on foot through the crowded streets attended by twelve sailors in their round blue caps, recognized the tall form and the gaunt and craggy features of the President, and cried out in passionate ecstacy: “God bless you, Massa Lincoln! Bless the Lord Jesus we have seen this day!”
We shall see that tall form no more. The great, good, wise, heroic President has gone to his great reward. He who so loved the Declaration of Independence, whose strong, clear mind so often and so powerfully defended its great principles, whose hand so bravely enforced its eternal truths, cannot unite with us in the celebration of the day which he so greatly revered and loved. Oh, how the heart of the people yearns for him to-day: for that care-worn, sad countenance, that rugged, manly form; those words of hope, of honest purpose, of high resolve, of humble trust in God.
“Oh, slow to smite and swift to spare,
Gentle, and merciful and just!
Who, in the fear of God, didst bear