the inaugural, the secession of seven States was an
accomplished fact and the government of the Confederacy had already been
organised in Montgomery. Alexander H. Stephens had so far modified his
original position that he had accepted the post of Vice-President and in
his own inaugural address had used the phrase, "Slavery is the
corner-stone of our new nation," a phrase that was to make much mischief
in Europe for the hopes of the new Confederacy.

In the first inaugural, one of the great addresses in a noteworthy
series, Lincoln presented to the attention of the leaders of the South
certain very trenchant arguments against the wisdom of their course. He
says of secession for the purpose of preserving the institution of
slavery:

"You complain that under the government of the United States your
slaves have from time to time escaped across your borders and have
not been returned to you. Their value as property has been lessened
by the fact that adjoining your Slave States were certain States
inhabited by people who did not believe in your institution. How is
this condition going to be changed by war even under the assumption
that the war may be successful in securing your independence? Your
slave territory will still adjoin territory inhabited by free men
who are inimical to your institution; but these men will no longer
be bound by any of the restrictions which have obtained under the
Constitution. They will not have to give consideration to the rights
of slave-owners who are fellow-citizens. Your slaves will escape as
before and you will have no measure of redress. Your indignation may
produce further wars, but the wars can but have the same result
until finally, after indefinite loss of life and of resources, the
institution will have been hammered out of existence by the
inevitable conditions of existing civilisation."

Lincoln points out further in this same address the difference between
his responsibilities and those of the Southern leaders who are
organising for war. "You," he says, "have no oath registered in Heaven
to destroy this government, while I have the most solemn oath to
preserve, direct, and defend it."

"It was not necessary," says Lincoln, "for the Constitution to
contain any provision expressly forbidding the disintegration of the
state; perpetuity and the right to maintain self-existence will be
considered as