For Myself, I Care Not Whether Treason

I Have Reached The Summit Of My Ambition.

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.

It Is Our Sacred Duty To Transmit Unimpaired To Our Posterity The Blessings Of Liberty Which Were Bequeathed To Us By The Founders Of The Republic.

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

The Homestead Policy Was Established Only After Long And Earnest Resistance; Experience Proves Its Wisdom. The Lands In The Hands Of Industrious Settlers, Whose Labor Creates Wealth And Contributes To The Public Resources, Are Worth More To The United States Than If They Had Been Reserved As A Solitude For Future Purchasers.