Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 4 [Mar. 5, 1860-Oct. 24, 1861].

About this Item

Title: Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 4 [Mar. 5, 1860-Oct. 24, 1861].
Author: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
Publication: New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press; 1953.
Rights/Permissions: The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes, with permission from their copyright holder. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission.
Cite this Item: "Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 4 [Mar. 5, 1860-Oct. 24, 1861]." In the digital collection Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln4. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 17, 2024.

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Reply to the Frontier Guard1Jump to section

April 26, 1861

I have desired as sincerely as any man---I sometimes think more than any other man---that our present difficulties might be settled without the shedding of blood. I will not say that all hope is yet gone. But if the alternative is presented, whether the Union is to be broken in fragments and the liberties of the people lost, or blood be shed, you will probably make the choice, with which I shall not be dissatisfied.

Annotation

[1] New York Tribune, May 1, 1861. ``The Frontier Guard, under the command of Senator Lane of Kansas, numbering 150, and composed mostly of Kansas men, called on Mr. Lincoln on Friday. . . . Mr. Lincoln responded briefly, concluding as follows:'' (ibid). This item is misdated by Hertz (II, 830) April 28, and by Lapsley (V, 292) April 27.

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