THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
fair compensation to loyal Slave States and loyal masters who would agree to some system of emancipation—this to be followed by such measures as might appear necessary to render the restoration of slavery impossible, and to take away from the Southern people all hope of such a restoration. I then reviewed the objections currently made to such a plan, and showed their futility, and closed with an appeal to the good sense, the patriotism, and the instinct of justice and honor of the American people.
This draft of my speech, which in the published edition has the title, “Reconciliation by Emancipation,” I took to Mr. Lincoln, and he asked me to read it to him. When I had finished he said: “Now, you go and deliver that speech at your meeting on the 6th of March. And maybe you will hear something from me on the same day.”
Our meeting at the Cooper Institute was an imposing demonstration. The great ball was crowded to overflowing with an audience representative of all social classes. Many of the most prominent citizens of New York sat on the platform. Every allusion to the abolition of slavery as a necessity for the preservation of the Union, and as a moral deliverance and a consummation devoutly to be wished and sure to come, called forth outbursts of genuine enthusiasm. There was something like religious fervor in the proceeding—something of that spirit which impelled the singing of “Old Hundred” before the meeting dissolved. While the meeting was going on, the arrival of a despatch from Washington was announced—if I remember rightly, by Horace Greeley with the remark that it “would greatly interest this audience.” The despatch informed us that President Lincoln had on that day, the 6th of March, sent a special message to Congress, asking for the adoption of a joint resolution substantially to this effect: “That the United States
[ 322 ]
