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devise. [Applause.] So long as each man feels that the interests of the Government are his interests; so long as the public heart turns in the right direction, and the people understand and appreciate the theory of our Government and love liberty, our Constitution will be transmitted unimpaired. If the time ever comes when the people shall fail, the Government will fail, and we shall cease to be one of the nations of the earth. After having preserved our form of free government, and shown its power to maintain its existence through the vicissitudes of nearly a century, it may be that it was necessary for us to pass through this last ordeal of intestine strife to prove that this Government will not perish from internal weakness, but will stand to defend itself against all foes and punish treason. [Applause.] In the dealings of an inscrutable Providence and by the operation of the Constitution, I have been thrown unexpectedly into this position. My past life, especially my course during the present unholy rebellion, is before you. I have no principles to retract; I defy any one to point to any of my public acts at variance with the fixed principles which have guided me through life. I have no professions to offer. Professions and promises would be worth nothing at this time. No one can foresee the circumstances that will hereafter arise. Had any man, gifted with prescience four years ago, uttered and written down in advance the events of this period, they would have seemed more marvellous than any thing in the 'Arabian Nights.' I shall not attempt to anticipate the future. As events occur, and it becomes necessary for me to act, I shall dispose of each as it arises, deferring any declaration

or message until it can be written, paragraph by paragraph, in the light of events as they transpire."

The members of the delegation were then severally introduced to the President by Governor Oglesby.

CHAPTER X.

RECEPTION OF THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR.

ON the 20th of April, 1865, Sir Frederick A. Bruce, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty to the United States Government, presenting his credentials to the President, spoke as follows:

“MR. PRESIDENT:-It is with deep and sincere concern that I have to accompany my first official act with expressions of condolence. On Saturday last the ceremony that takes place here to-day was to have been performed, but the gracious intentions of the late lamented President were frustrated by the events which have plunged this country in consternation and afflic tion, and which will call forth in Great Britain feelings of horror, as well as of profound sympathy. It becomes, therefore, my duty, sir, to present the letter from my sovereign, of which I am the bearer, to you, as President of the United States; and it is with pleasure that I convey the assurances of regard and goodwill which her Majesty entertains towards you, sir, as President of the United States. I am further directed to express her Majesty's friendly disposition towards the great nation of which you are Chief Magistrate,

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and her hearty good wishes for its peace, prosperity, and welfare. Her Majesty has nothing more at heart than to conciliate those relations of amity and good understanding which have so long and so happily existed between the two kindred nations of the United States and Great Britain, and it is in this spirit that I am directed to perform the duties of the important and honorable post confided to me. Permit me, sir, to say, that it shall be the object of my earnest endeavors to carry out my instructions faithfully in this respect, and to express the hope, sir, that you will favorably consider my attempts to merit your approbation, and to give effect to the friendly intentions of the Queen and of her Majesty's Government. I have the honor to place in your hands the letter of credence confided to me by her Majesty."

THE PRESIDENT'S REPLY.

To which President Johnson replied:

"SIR FREDERICK A. BRUCE:-The very cordial and friendly sentiments which you have expressed on the part of her Britannic Majesty give me great pleasure. Great Britain and the United States, by the extended and various forms of commerce between them, the contiguity of portions of their possessions, and the similarity of their language and laws, are drawn into constant and intimate intercourse. At the same time they are, from the same causes, exposed to frequent occasions of misunderstanding, only to be averted by mutual forbearance. So eagerly are the people of the two countries engaged, throughout almost the whole

world, in the pursuit of similar commercial enterprises, accompanied by natural rivalries and jealousies, that, at first sight, it would almost seem that the two Governments must be enemies, or at best cold and calculating friends. So devoted are the two nations throughout all their domain, and even in their most remote territory and colonial possessions, to the principles of civil rights and constitutional liberty, that, on the other hand, the superficial observer might erroneously count upon a continued concert of action and sympathy, amounting to an alliance between them. Each is charged with the development of the progress of the human race, and each in its sphere is subject to difficulties and trials not participated in by the other. The interests of civilization and of humanity require that the two should be friends. I have always known and accounted as a fact, honorable to both countries, that the Queen of England is a sincere and honest wellwisher to the United States. I have been equally frank and explicit in the opinion that the friendship of the United States towards Great Britain is enjoined by all considerations of interest and of sentiment affecting the character of both. You will, therefore, be accepted as a minister friendly and well-disposed to the maintenance of peace and the honor of both countries. You will find myself and all my associates acting in accordance with the same enlightened policy and consistent sentiments, and so I am sure that it will not occur in your case that either yourself or this Government will ever have cause to regret that such an important relationship existed at such a crisis.

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