Gentlemen，IhavealreadyspokenlongerthanIintended，andmustbegleavetostophere。
REPLYTOTHEMAYOROFPHILADELPHIA，PENNSYLVANIA，FEBRUARY21，1861
MR。MAYORANDFELLOW—CITIZENSOFPHILADELPHIA：——Iappearbeforeyoutomakenolengthyspeech，buttothankyouforthisreception。Thereceptionyouhavegivenmeto—nightisnottome，theman，theindividual，buttothemanwhotemporarilyrepresents，orshouldrepresent，themajestyofthenation。Itistrue，asyourworthymayorhassaid，thatthereisgreatanxietyamongstthecitizensoftheUnitedStatesatthistime。Ideemitahappycircumstancethatthisdissatisfiedportionofourfellow—citizensdoesnotpointustoanythinginwhichtheyarebeinginjuredorabouttobeinjured；forwhichreasonIhavefeltallthewhilejustifiedinconcludingthatthecrisis，thepanic，theanxietyofthecountryatthistimeisartificial。Iftherebethosewhodifferwithmeuponthissubject，theyhavenotpointedoutthesubstantialdifficultythatexists。
Idonotmeantosaythatanartificialpanicmaynotdoconsiderableharm；thatithasdonesuchIdonotdeny。Thehopethathasbeenexpressedbyyourmayor，thatImaybeabletorestorepeace，harmony，andprosperitytothecountry，ismostworthyofhim；andmosthappy，indeed，willIbeifIshallbeabletoverifyandfulfilthathope。IpromiseyouthatIbringtotheworkasincereheart。
WhetherIwillbringaheadequaltothatheartwillbeforfuturetimestodetermine。Itwereuselessformetospeakofdetailsofplansnow；IshallspeakofficiallynextMondayweek，ifever。IfI