m, moderate,
judicious spirit which pervaded Lincoln's address is apparent in the
following quotations, which contain its most significant and memorable
passages:

_Fellow-Citizens of the United States_:--In compliance with a
custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to
address you briefly, and to take in your presence the oath
prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by
the President "before he enters on the execution of his office."
... Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern
States, that by the accession of a Republican Administration their
property and their peace and personal security are to be
endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such
apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has
all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is
found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses
you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that
"I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the
institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I
have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do
so." Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge
that I had made this and many similar declarations, and have never
recanted them.... I now reiterate these sentiments; and, in doing
so, I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive
evidence of which the case is susceptible, that the property,
peace, and security of no section are to be in anywise endangered
by the now incoming Administration. I add, too, that all the
protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws,
can be given, will be cheerfully given to all the States, when
lawfully demanded, for whatever cause--as cheerfully to one section
as to another.... I hold that, in contemplation of universal law,
and of the Constitution, _the Union of these States is perpetual_.
Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of
all National Governments. It is safe to assert that no Government
proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own
termination. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our
National Constitution, and the Union will endure forever.... I