A large part of the message was devoted to an argument against the right of secession, and in favor of the perpetuity of the Union, in respect to which the President was very much in earnest. The message closed as follows: "The mystic chord of memory, stretching from every battle field and patriot grave to every living beart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." The message gave general satisfaction throughout the North and the border states. There was nothing in it that could offend reasonable men in the South, but the extreme Southerners were already beyond reason. Four members of the President's Cabinet, as announced soon after the inaugural and confirmed by the Senate, had been rival aspirants for the Presidential nomination. These were William H. Seward, of New York, Secretary of State; Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury; Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War, and Edward Bates, of Missouri, Attorney General. The other three members were Gideon Welles, of Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy; Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana, Secretary of the Interior, and Montgomery Blair, of Maryland. Postmaster General. None of these attained great distinction in their respective positions, except Chase, who took rank with the greatest of American financiers, and Seward, who conducted the affairs of state with great ability, after he had ascertained that he was not the Government, and could not control the President, but had best confine himself mainly to his own department. The Cabinet, as a whole, did not strike people favorably at the time. Thaddeus Stevens described it as an assortment of rivals for the Presidency, one stump speaker from Indiana, and two representatives of the Blair family, the second representative of this family being Attorney General Bates, who was supposed to owe his appointment to the influence of Francis P. Blair, Jr. Gideon Welles, of Connecticut, the "Ancient Mariner," as he was called, was said to have owed his appointment to Vice-President Hamlin. He was old, and slow, and knew nothing about naval affairs. But he had one recommendation. He never made any disturbance in the Cabinet. It is said that he always agreed with the last man that spoke, but always ended up by supporting the President's views. Simon Cameron was a good politician, but not a strong Secretary of War, and the war had not been long in progress before the President felt obliged to ask for his resignation. |