12-01-2012, 04:11 PM
As I read the Address given 150 years ago today, I thought how beautiful the words-and how in a very real way-they could apply today. Here is a portion of the end of the text:
"...Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of the Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free- honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the best hope of earth..."
"...Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of the Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free- honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the best hope of earth..."