these causes of irritation and these hopes would b removed, and more would be accomplished towar shortening the war than could be hoped from th greatest victory achieved by Union armies; tha he made this proposition in good faith, and d sired it to be accepted, if at all, voluntarily, an in the same patriotic spirit in which it was mad that emancipation was a subject exclusively und the control of the States, and must be adopted rejected by each for itself; that he did not claim n had this government any right to coerce them f that purpose; that such was no part of his purpo in making this proposition, and he wished it to b clearly understood; that he did not expect us the to be prepared to give him an answer, but he hope we would take the subject into serious consideratio confer with one another, and then take such cour as we felt our duty and the interests of our co stituents required of us.

ot thir

t; an

Mr. Noell, of Missouri, said that in his State slave was not considered a permanent institution; th natural causes were there in operation which wou at no distant day extinguish it, and he that this proposition was necessary besides that, he and his friends felt the message on account of the di tions which the resolution and ceived. The New York Trib understood it to mean that w emancipation according to get something worse.

The President replied th

us as Constru had r

for it, an cept grar1 sugges

of

se hopes would be omplished toward e hoped from the hion armies: t od faith, and de voluntarily, and hich it was made exclusively under st be adopted r did not claim n coerce them in art of his purpos e wished it to be t expect us ther wer, but he hoped pus consideration

take such course ests of our cor

his State slavery institution; that ion which would

he d

to quarrel with the New York Tribune before the right time; he hoped never to have to do it; he would not anticipate events. In respect to emancipation in Missouri, he said that what had been observed by Mr. Noell was probably true, but the operation of these natural causes had not prevented the irritating conduct to which he had referred, or destroyed the hopes of the Confederates that Missouri would at some time range herself alongside of them, which, in his judgment, the passage of this resolution by Congress and its acceptance by Missouri would accomplish.

Mr. Crisfield, of Maryland, asked what would be the effect of the refusal of the State to accept this proposal, and he desired to know if the President looked to any policy beyond the acceptance or rejection of this scheme.

The President replied that he had no designs beyond the actions of the States on this particular subject. He should lament their refusal to accept it, but he had no designs beyond their refusal of it.

Mr. Menzies, of Kentucky, inquired if the President thought there was any power except in the States themselves to carry out his scheme of emancipation. The Presiden eplied that he thought there ould not be. emarks not

off into a course of regoing declaration just understanding ad

think the peouth; y as a perman as well w that they full and

tion wrong

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed at Washington, this second day of December, A.D. 1861.

By the President:

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

ANNUAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.

WASHINGTON, December 3, 1861.

FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:-In the midst of unprecedented political troubles we have cause of great gratitude to God for unusual good health and most abundant harvests.

You will not be surprised to learn that in the peculiar exigencies of the times our intercourse with foreign nations has been attended with profound solicitude, chiefly turning upon our own domestic affairs.

A disloyal portion of the American people have during the whole year been engaged in an attempt to divide and destroy the Union. A nation which

endures factious domestic division is exposed to dis

respect abroad, and one party, if not both, is sure sooner or later to invoke foreign intervention.

Nations thus tempted to interfere are not al

ways able to resist the counsels of seeming expediency and ungenerous ambition, although measures

adopted under such influences seldom fail to be unfortunate and injurious to those adopting them.

The disloyal citizens of the United States who have offered the ruin of our country in return for the aid and comfort which they have invoked abroad have received less patronage and encouragement than they probably expected. If it were just to suppose, as the insurgents have seemed to assume, that foreign nations in this case, discarding all moral, social, and treaty obligations, would act solely and selfishly for the most speedy restoration of commerce, including especially the acquisition of cotton, those nations appear as yet not to have seen their way to their object more directly or clearly through the destruction than through the preservation of the Union. If we could dare to believe that foreign nations are actuated by no higher principle than this, I am quite sure a sound argument could be made to show them that they can reach their aim more readily and easily by aiding to crush this rebellion than by giving encouragement to it.

The principal lever relied on by the insurgents for exciting foreign nations to hostility against us, as already intimated, is the embarrassment of commerce. Those nations, however, not improbably saw from the first that it was the Union which made as well our foreign as our domestic commerce. They can scarcely have failed to perceive that the effort for disunion produces the existing difficulty, and that one strong nation promises more durable peace and a more extensive, valuable, and reliable

commerce than can the same nation broken into hostile fragments.

It is not my purpose to review our discussions with foreign states, because, whatever might be their wishes or dispositions, the integrity of our country and the stability of our government mainly depend not upon them, but on the loyalty, virtue, patriotism, and intelligence of the American people. The correspondence itself, with the usual reservations, is herewith submitted.

I venture to hope it will appear that we have practised prudence and liberality toward foreign powers, averting causes of irritation and with firmness maintaining our own rights and honor.

Since, however, it is apparent that here, as in every other state, foreign dangers necessarily attend domestic difficulties, I recommend that adequate and ample measures be adopted for maintaining the public defences on every side. While under this general recommendation provision for defending our seacoast line readily occurs to the mind, I also in the same connection ask the attention of Congress to our great lakes and rivers. It is believed that some fortifications and depots of arms and munitions, with harbor and navigation improvements, all at wellselected points upon these, would be of great importance to the national defence and preservation. I ask attention to the views of the Secretary of War, expressed in his report, upon the same general subject.

I deem it of importance that the loyal regions of east Tennessee and western North Carolina should