I
could not take the office without taking the oath. Nor was it in my
view that I might take the oath to get power, and break the oath in
using the power. I understood, too, that in ordinary civil
administration this oath even forbade me to practically indulge my
primary abstract judgment on the moral question of slavery. I had
publicly declared this many times and in many ways; and I aver that,
to this day I have done no official act in mere deference to my
abstract judgment and feeling on slavery. I did understand, however,
that my oath to preserve the Constitution to the best of my ability
imposed upon me the duty of preserving, by every indispensable means,
that government, that nation, of which that Constitution was the
organic law. Was it possible to lose the nation, and yet preserve the
Constitution? By general law, life and limb must be protected; yet
often a limb must be amputated to save a life, but a life is never
wisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures, otherwise
unconstitutional, might become lawful by becoming indispensable to
the preservation of the Constitution through the preservation of the
nation. Right or wrong, I assumed this ground, and now avow it. I
could not feel that to the best of my ability I had even tried to
preserve the Constitution, if, to save slavery, or any minor matter,
I should permit the wreck of government, country, and Constitution
altogether.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25