Selected Correspondance of Abraham Lincoln 1863 To The Working-Men Of Manchester, England
by Abraham Lincoln
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
January, 1863.
TO THE WORKING-MEN OF MANCHESTER:
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the address and
resolutions which you sent me on the eve of the new year. When I
came, on the 4th of March, 1861, through a free and constitutional
election to fireside in the Government of the United States, the
country was found at the verge of civil war. Whatever might have
been the cause, or whosesoever the fault, one duty, paramount to all
others, was before me, namely, to maintain and preserve at once the
Constitution and the integrity of the Federal Republic.
A conscientious purpose to perform this duty is the key to all the
measures of administration which have been and to all which will
hereafter be pursued. Under our frame of government and my official
oath, I could not depart from this purpose if I would. It is not
always in the power of governments to enlarge or restrict the scope
of moral results which follow the policies that they may deem it
necessary for the public safety from time to time to adopt.
I have understood well that the duty of self-preservation rests
solely with the American people; but I have at the same time been
aware that favor or disfavor of foreign nations might have a material
influence in enlarging or prolonging the struggle with disloyal men
in which the country is engaged. A fair examination of history has
served to authorize a belief that the past actions and influences of
the United States were generally regarded as having been beneficial
toward mankind. I have, therefore, reckoned upon the forbearance of
nations. Circumstances--to some of which you kindly allude--induce
me especially to expect that if justice and good faith should be
practised by the United States, they would encounter no hostile
influence on the part of Great Britain. It is now a pleasant duty to
acknowledge the demonstration you have given of your desire that a
spirit of amity and peace toward this country may prevail in the
councils of your Queen, who is respected and esteemed in your own
country only more than she is by the kindred nation which has its
home on this side of the Atlantic.
I know and deeply deplore the sufferings which the workingmen at
Manchester, and in all Europe, are called to endure in this crisis.
It has been often and studiously represented that the attempt to
overthrow this government, which was built upon the foundation of
human rights, and to substitute for it one which should rest
exclusively on the basis of human slavery, was likely to obtain the
favor of Europe. Through the action of our disloyal citizens, the
working-men of Europe have been subjected to severe trials, for the
purpose of forcing their sanction to that attempt. Under the
circumstance, I cannot but regard your decisive utterances upon the
question as an instance of sublime Christian heroism which has not
been surpassed in any age or in any country. It is indeed an
energetic and inspiring assurance of the inherent power of truth and
of the ultimate and universal triumph of justice, humanity, and
freedom. I do not doubt that the sentiments, you have expressed will
be sustained by your great nation; and, on the other hand, I have no
hesitation in assuring you that they will excite admiration, esteem,
and the most reciprocal feelings of friendship among the American
people.
I hail this interchange of sentiment, therefore, as an augury that
whatever else may happen, whatever misfortune may befall your country
or my own, the peace and friendship which now exist between the two
nations will be, as it shall be my desire to make them, perpetual.