In all disputes between conflicting governments, it is our interest not less than our duty to remain strictly neutral.

For more than a quarter of a century on active duty, my house has been my tent, and my home the battlefield.

I have always done my duty. I am ready to die. My only regret is for the friends I leave behind me.

I did not expect to encounter what has beset me since my elevation to the presidency. God knows, I have endeavored to fulfill what I considered to be an honest duty, but I have been mistaken; my motives have been misconstrued and my feelings grossly betrayed.

My duty to the army and to the republic whose battles we were waging forbade me assuming a position of seeming hostility to any portion of the brave men under my command.

I hope some compromise will be entered into between the two parties, slavery & antislavery, which will have the effect of allaying violent passions on both sides.