Who wrote this?

[David Lockmiller]

(03-26-2024 09:19 AM)David Lockmiller Wrote:  On November 10, 1864, in response to a serenade from his supporters, President Lincoln began his short speech with this observation: "It has long been a grave question whether any government, not too strong for the liberties of its people, can be strong enough to maintain its own existence, in great emergencies."

I thought I would share this [page 729 from Professor Burlingame's writing]:

In his formal reply to the congressional committee notifying him of his reelection, Lincoln was eloquent: “Having served four years in the depths of a great, and yet unended national peril, I can view this call to a second term, in nowise more flatteringly to myself, than as an expression of the public judgment, that I may better finish a difficult work, in which I have labored from the first, than could any one less severely schooled to the task. In this view, and with assured reliance on that Almighty Ruler who has so graciously sustained us thus far; and with increased gratitude to the generous people for their continued confidence, I accept the renewed trust, with it’s yet onerous and perplexing duties and responsibilities.” 291 Thurlow Weed told the president that this document “is not only the neatest but the most pregnant and effective use to which theEnglish Language was ever put.” 292