March 9, 1861; The Charleston Mercury
(From the New York Tribune.)
The address cannot fail to exercise a happy influence upon the country. The tone of almost tenderness with which the South is called upon to return to her allegiance cannot fail to convince even those who differ from Mr. Lincoln that he earnestly and seriously desires to avoid all difficulty and disturbance, while the firmness with which he avows his determination to obey the simple letter of his duty must command the respect of the whole country, while it carries conviction of his earnestness of purpose, and of his courage to enforce it.
(From the World.)
Mr. Lincoln has been long enough in Washington to show that he has a firm, independent judgment of his own, and that he well knows how to blend determination with prudence. We look for a vigorous yet discreet management of our national difficulties–just the policy best calculated to avert bloodshed, and yet maintain the Federal authority in all its rightful strength. With time passion will subside, misapprehension disappear; and with time, too, the stupendous practical difficulties in the ways of keeping up the Government of the so styled, “Confederate States” will develop themselves and will cause a revulsion of popular feeling that will give traitors a lesson for all time to come. In spite of the treachery of the old pilot, the ship has weathered the worst of the storm and doubled the cape. Under the new guidance we hope soon to be in smoother waters.
(From the Times.)
The characteristic feature of the address is its profound sincerity–the earnest determination which it evinces to render equal and exact justice to every States, to every section, to every interest of the Republic–and to administer the government in a spirit of the most thorough and impartial equity. To this purpose every other consideration is made to bend. And no one who can understand, and appreciate such a character as that of Mr. Lincoln will doubt that this spirit will make every act of his administration.
In our judgment the Inaugural cannot fail to exert a very happy influence upon public sentiment throughout the country. All men, of all parties, must feel that its sentiments are just and true–that it sets forth the only basis on which the government of this country can be maintained, while at the same time it breathes the very spirit of kindness and conciliation and relies upon justice and reflection, rather than force, for the preservation of the Federal Union.
The Inaugural inspires the strongest and most confident hopes of the wisdom and success of the new Administration. It is marked throughout by consummate ability, a wise and prudent sagacity in the judgment of affairs, a profound appreciation of the difficulties and dangers of the crisis, a calm, self possessed, unflinching courage adequate to any emergency, a kind and conciliatory temper and the most earnest, sincere and unswerving devotion to the Union and the Constitution. If the dangers of the hour can be averted and the Union can be saved, this is the basis on which alone it can be accomplished. If the Union cannot be saved on this basis, and consistently with these principles, then it is better that it should not be saved at all.
(From the Courier and Enquirer.)
The address is a noble one, proving conclusively that he who delivered it is a plain, honest, frank man, possessed of a soul big with patriotism, of an ability equal to the high station to which he has been called, and of that firmness of purpose, mingled with that conciliatory spirit, demanded by the emergency which meets him on the very threshold of his office. Mr. Lincoln’s address is remarkable for its directness, for the convincing manner in which his duty is set forth, and for the exact and truthful manner in which the great question before the country is put. We cannot see how any true citizen of this Republic, any lover if its Union of States, its Constitution, and laws, can rise from the perusal of this Address without being completely satisfied; without saying “Abraham Lincoln is right; he has said just what he ought to say, and no more nor less; is a man who will do what he promises; a man in whom the most perfect trust may be reposed that he will be an able and true President of the United States – South and North, East and West.”
(From the Philadelphia Inquirer.)
The Address is in admirable tone and temper. It breathes throughout the kindest spirit to the people of the Southern States. No man can read it without being convinced that the new President is a patriot in the sincere desire to dispel groundless apprehensions growing out of his election, and throughout the Address there is a pervading purpose to do what is right. In all these respects it is as we have already said most admirable.
Upon the whole we are of opinion that the President Inaugural Address looks to peace rather than war, and if it fails to give through satisfaction, it is because of the inherent difficulties which surround the subjects presented to him for action.