Reading Lincoln and Churchill led me to
discover the beauty of the English language.
Churchill was a Nobel literature laureate, Lincoln would have been one were
the Nobel Prize available in his time.
Lincoln is a great man, but what made
him great? His moral courage and gift
for words would be among the many characteristics.
Without Lincoln speaking to consecrate Gettysburg
battlefield ground on November 19, 1863, Gettysburg Battle wouldn’t be so well
known to the whole world. One can be ignorant
to the Civil War, but one always knows Gettysburg Address.
How wrong Lincoln was when he said, “The world
will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget
what they did here.” What he said here had since
belonged to the ages, like Edwin Stanton (Lincoln’s War Secretary) said of
Lincoln when he drew his last breath, “Now he belongs to the ages.”
Great
writers are skilled in using plain simple words; Churchill and Lincoln are no
exceptions. A November 17, 2013 NY Times
Editorial pointed out Lincoln used “here” eight times in the “270 words or so”
(there are several versions of the speech); seven of them in the last paragraph
and one in the second paragraph. Of some
270 words about two-thirds are single syllable, only a half-dozen
four-syllable.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate --
we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled
here, have consecrated it, far above our poor
power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we
say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated
here to the unfinished work which they who
fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It
is rather for us to be here dedicated to the
great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take
increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of
devotion -- that we here highly resolve that
these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall
have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting
place for those who here gave their lives that
that nation might live.
Yet these 270 some words are “woven into 10 complicated
sentences” that only a man of letter can master. One also noticed the repetitive triplets: “we
cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.”
Everett [the key note speaker
of the consecrated dedication, a great orator of his days] wrote Lincoln a day
after, “I shall be glad, if I could flatter myself, that I came
close to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two
minutes.” To
which Lincoln replied, “In our respective parts yesterday, you could
not have been excused to make a short address, nor I a long one. I am pleased
to know that, in your judgment, the little did I say was not entirely a
failure. . . . Our sick boy [Tad], for whom you kindly inquire, we hope is past
the worst.”
The day before Lincoln left
for Gettysburg (by train), Tad (their son) was sick and doctors had no idea
what ailed him. Mary was still mourned for
Willie [another son, Willie, who died at White House not too long ago]. Many historians were not nice to Mary; some
even made up the story saying Mary threw herself on the floor in an outburst of
tantrum, trying to prevent Lincoln from leaving.
Nothing is further from the truth.
Mary sent her husband a telegram the
same afternoon when Lincoln left saying “The
doctor has just left. We hope dear
Taddie is slightly better. Will send you
a telegram in the morning.” Mary was apparently trying to
comfort and alleviate Lincoln’s anxiety so he could do a good job; a good job
indeed. The second telegram arrived at
ten o’clock Nov. 19, just before Lincoln left Wills house [where Lincoln stayed
the night before. Prof. Pan also drove
us to see the house], as Stanton [Lincoln’s War Secretary] told Lincoln that “Grant
was staring a big battle at Chattanooga.
Mrs. Lincoln reports your son’s health as a great deal better and he
will be out today.”
Lincoln apparently also told
Everett that their son, Tad, was sick when he left White House and that’s why
Everett “kindly inquire” in his letter to Lincoln.
I took every chance to defend for
Mary Lincoln, even on the occasion of Gettysburg Address. Mary often time traveled with her husband. She missed the chance of hearing the greatest
speech of all time simply because she was a loving mother.
Unfortunately we didn’t have
the photo of his delivering of the speech at Gettysburg. The great orator, Edward Everett, was to
blame. After hearing Everett spoke for
two hours, the photographer took it easy slowly preparing his equipment (dry
plates, black box on a tripod, etc.) when Lincoln began to speak. Bending and
hiding his head under the hood, he heard Lincoln said, “Government of
the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from Earth”
William Safire once wrote of a “speech made
on May 29, 1850—thirteen years before the Gettysburg Address—by Theodore Parker
at an antislavery convention in Boston, calling for ‘a democracy, that is, a
government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people. . .’ ”
Everett’s 13000-word oration is
classical as Lincoln’s 270 some-word sermon is biblical. Some point out that “Four
score and seven years ago” is coming from Genesis 16:16, “Abram was four
score and six years old when his son Ishmael was born.”
(Those who believe in predestination also point out that
Lincoln is the 16th President, who lived in 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue. And his first name is Abraham—Genesis 16:16 “Abram was . . .”)
We do not see words like “Union”, “slavery” or “Constitution”,
but “nation” was mentioned four times.
We also see many religious words, such as “conceived in liberty”, “hallow”,
“consecrated”, and “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom”.
I still have much to say, but this post is already too long
for Lincoln’s compact, poetic prose; a timeless work that made America of what
she is today. It may not be just a
coincidence that Gettysburg Battle ended on July 4 as America was born again
with “a new birth of freedom”.
