| Show si sid d a 4 1 s ed a M s si i ta j th Z y yM k tr i RJ J b bu bM J u M w wM a I ii k F i i nt a ar r r 6 6 S r tl t F g r A y w v X w 4 oL f fat at 1 GETTYSBURG J j 4 LIT 1 ILL LC more than sev sevI seventy A enty years ago ngo a gaunt I II unhandsome man whose hoce t face was as as care careworn orn and I whose hose figure was as stooped 1 revealing re the agony that III was almost smothering him delivered erell a speech of ot only about three hun bun hundred bundred dred words In length Scarcely any attention was paid to that man or orto orto orto to the words that he uttered uttered-at uttered the time It was because he was the nation s ruler that thit he had been Leen given ghen the opportunity to make any an remarks on this occasion sot ot I ot Abraham Lincoln President ot of the United States Stites but another rd man rdward ard a Everett a a noted orator orator or ator had been chosen as the prin principal principal cipal speaker and he spoke first lIe held the cro crowd d spellbound for two hours and newspapers the nett nelt day devoted much space to n a re re- report report report port of his master masterly effort Of Ot the theother theother theother other man mans s speech most newspapers pers made no mention beyond sa say savIng fag that he also spoke A few ot of the larger papers printed what he be said but without comment About ever body forgot what hat the theman theman theman man who spoke two t hours had said The other man s utterances because ot of Its brevity and manner of ot de deIh delivery delivery Ih livery ery began to be recalled by Its hearers and for decades It has been classed among the world s literary masterpieces F Foo 1 T oo our fathers i- i in n and I nr rought seven forth rII o ago this continent a n new hen nation eon con e-che-d e In liberty and dedicated d to the proposition that all oil men Are created create equal 1 Merv oy we we- 0 are re- re engaged In 10 a II greo great t oar nor testing tenting whether hether that no- no notIon nation na nation tIon tion or ao any notion nation so o e and 10 o cnn no long lone endure endure- ate e are met on n grent rent of that war tie elan e lime e come e to ded- ded dedI ded dedicate I n a portion of It nil a a It final rest rest- resting rent Ing place ploCe for those who oho died here that the the- nation might ml ht Ih live IRe t It is 1 I altogether fitting and proper we should do hi Out nut In 10 a 11 larger Ini sense en e we vre cannot e ne can can- cannot can cannot not cog coi J secrate e ne Mc tuition hallu this I round ground n The time brie men and dead who b traveled I here re bare hallooed It far for above our poor pos pos- poser pow power er r to o n a Id or detract The little world orld grill note nor long lone remember re hot we e ay herdy berel here but It t-iiii t never Deer get for for- forEe forget Ee get what hat the they did here lucre It ic IN III rather for nil ns n the thebe Ih to tobe be dedicated here to the un d wor work they bIn have hate e thus fur for o o nobl nobly carried on 00 It Ir is rather for tor as us to tobe tobe be here dedicated to the great tok remainIng remainIng- before au ithe that from these thc e honored den deo deal 1 ITa to take In- In Increased creased devotion demotion to that hat came e for which h they here gave cave the lat la 10 t full lne measure ure of I that we here highly resolve these Oue dead shall hall not have dl died ll In 10 vain that this thin nation under onder God ball n new nen I of freedom and that government coc KO of the people by the he people and und for forthe the people ball not perish from trout tile the e t rth The occasion of ot the masterpiece ot of oratory and the scene was that ot of the dedication of ot the burial place lice tor for Union soldiers who died In a battle battle a field over which a part ot of the Battle of or Gettysburg had raged It was as only by chance hance that dent Lincoln spoke at all tor for had the original date cho chosen en for tor the dedication been observed ved It Is likely that he would have pro flounced pronounced only the simple formula ot of official dedication the 1 he da date dale te set a was as October 21 but hut Everett rett nd ad that he could not conven be there then The Hon was postponed to november 1 lU 19 lUo No so Invitation was as sent to the Pre President until hov o oember ember 2 Then he be was very sery ery formally told that lIon Uon Everett will dellner or I the It Is the desire after the oration you as ns Chief I e of ot the formally I set apart these grounds to their Ill en I cred use by a few appropriate re- re marl re-marl marl s i Ith the Invitation went ent a note from an official of the Soldiers na a Cemetery telling the President the writer hoped Mr Lin I coIn would feel It his duty to la aside pressing business for a day and come to Gettysburg to perform I this late sad sail rite to our brave e sol soldiers soldiers I diers Thus the President virtu virtually virtually ally wis commanded to attend a dedication ceremony that had been postponed for the convenience COO or of another It V wis lS IS rather rattier hoped b the committee In charge of the ar arrangements arrangements arrangements that Old Abe ALe would not attempt to make mahe a speech The members feared his uncouth ap appearance appearance and homely vernacular would not mil mal e c a good Impression on the rich and cultured support supporters ers of the cemetery project Lincoln seemed not to notice the slight and accepted the ins Ills His anxiety ss wis s as not that two weeks was as too short a time In w hick to prepare a speech but that uncertain train tram connections might cause cauce him to be late and thus de- de delay delay de delay lay the dedication Some still are living lI who ho heard him speak and they can ha have hate e no nomore nomore nomore more precious memory observes es a writer In the Washington Star The mart martyred red Presidents swords words ha hale hae e become a world orld classic their tin mortality guaranteed by their ml ma jc tlc but simple beauty Spoken for a particular moment Intended to serve er e but an instants In s need the nobility ot of o both the thought and 5 fit Lincoln Seemed Not to Notice the Slight Accepted the utterance was as so compelling that lint multitudes far removed from the original occasion feel the po pow power or er of ot the message and respond to Its appeal No other oration ot of modern times Ins his been Its equal It stands alone an unparalleled ex expression expression of ot the grandeur of ot a ms ter spirit the el element ment il ti splendor ot of an Illuminated soul Critics have base declared that the text may be scanned and It fre frequently frequently has been printed In the t typographical pO arrangement of ot po poetry poetry etry To the question as to the source of ot Its music analysts have replied by citing clUng the Psalms and but It Is not exclusively a mechanical trick of ot rhythm which gl cs It Its mystic character or of limpid and harmonious prose In point of fact the address my be bee e only In terms of ot a as Lion It Is 11 like lILe a n fra fragment ent of opal opalescent opalescent sky eky a flash of climbing flame a scrap of verdant wind windswept windswept 8 swept ept hlll hillside or a mighty wave tease nn e of othe the Illimitable It set It is 1 d as these things are natural and au then tic as the universe Is The Tho address then must hn hase t come out of ot the Infinite and It was America that spoke it Gettysburg So o oknell viewed slowed the Emancipators phrases signify the dedication not merely of or a battlefield but Lut of ot a o nn ma maLion Lion Con Contention Is In them pa m and loyalty lo shine ehino from them and love lo and m mercy rcy reach rench out through them to touch the heart of ot mankind One by one olle In III an unending se Be sequence quence the tho curtain of or the ages will fall and Lincoln and his vision Islon will remain |
