well-timed are peculiarly acceptable. Sprung from the people myself, every pulsation of the popular heart finds an immediate answer in my own. By many men in public life such occasions are often considered merely formal. To me they are real. Your words of countenance and encouragement sank deep in my heart, and were I even a coward I could not but gather from them strength to carry out my convictions of right. Thus feeling, I shall enter upon the discharge of my great duty firmly, steadfastly, [applause,] if not with the signal ability exhibited by my predecessor, which is still fresh in our sorrowing minds. Need I repeat that no heart feels more sensibly than mine this great affliction? In what I say on this occasion I shall indulge in no petty spirit of anger, no feeling of revenge. But we have beheld a notable event in the history of mankind. In the midst of the American people, where every citizen is taught to obey law and observe the rules of Christian conduct, our Chief Magistrate, the beloved of all hearts, has been assassinated; and when we trace this crime to its cause, when we remember the source whence the assassin drew his inspiration, and then look at the result, we stand yet more astounded at this most barbarous, most diabolical assassination. Such a crime as the murder of a great and good man, honored and revered, the beloved and the hope of the people, springs not alone from a solitary individual of ever so desperate wickedness. We can trace its cause through successive steps, without my enumerating them here, back to that source which is the spring of all our woes. No one can say that if the perpetrator of this fiendish deed be arrested he should not undergo the extremest penalty the law knows for crime; none

will say that mercy should interpose. But is he alone guilty? Here, gentlemen, you perhaps expect me to present some indication of my future policy. One thing I will say. Every era teaches its lesson. The times we live in are not without instruction. The American people must be taught - if they do not already feel — that treason is a crime and must be punished; [applause ;] that the Government will not always bear with its enemies; that it is strong, not only to protect, but to punish. [Applause.] When we turn to the criminal code and examine the catalogue of crimes, we there find arson laid down as a crime with its appropriate penalty; we find there theft and robbery and murder given as crimes; and there, too, we find the last and highest of crimes, - treason. [Applause.] With other and inferior offences our people are familiar. But in our peaceful history treason has been almost unknown. The people must understand that it is the blackest of crimes, and will be surely punished. [Applause.] I make this allusion, not to excite the already exasperated feelings of the public, but to point out the principles of public justice which should guide our action at this particular juncture, and which accord with sound public morals. Let it be engraven on every heart that treason is a crime, and traitors shall suffer its penalty. [Applause.] While we are appalled, overwhelmed at the fall of one man in our midst by the hand of a traitor, shall we allow men I care not by what weapons to attempt the life of a State with impunity? While we strain our minds to comprehend the enormity of this assassination, shall we allow the nation to be assassinated? [Applause.] I speak in no spirit of unkindness. I leave the events of

the future to be disposed of as they arise, regarding myself as the humble instrument of the American people. In this, as in all things, justice and judgment shall be determined by them. I do not harbor bitter or revengeful feelings toward any. In general terms I would say that public morals and public opinion should be established upon the sure and inflexible principles of justice. [Applause.] When the question of exercising mercy comes before me it will be considered calmly, judicially,

remembering that I am the Executive of the nation. I know men love to have their names spoken of in connection with acts of mercy; and how easy it is to yield to this impulse. But we must not forget that what may be mercy to the individual is cruelty to the State. [Applause.] In the exercise of mercy there should be no doubt left that this high prerogative is not used to relieve a few at the expense of the many. Be assured that I shall never forget that I am not to consult my own feelings alone, but to give an account to the whole people. [Applause.] In regard to my future course I will now make no professions, no pledges. I have been connected somewhat actively with public affairs, and to the history of my past public acts, which is familiar to you, I refer for those principles which have governed me heretofore, and will guide me hereafter. In general I will say I have long labored for the amelioration and elevation of the great mass of mankind. My opinions as to the nature of popular government have long been cherished; and constituted as I am, it is now too late in life for me to change them. I believe that government was made for man, not man for government. [Applause.] This struggle of the people against the most gigantic rebel

lion the world ever saw has demonstrated that the attachment of the people to their Government is the strongest national defence human wisdom can 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 anything 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.

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 affliction, 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 good-will which her Majesty entertains toward 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