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LINCOLN'S FIRST 
INAUGURAL ADDRESS 

delivered on the 
4th of march, 1861 

Fellow- Citizens 

qf the United States: 

In compliance with a cus- 
tom as old as the Government 
itself, I appear before you to 
address you briefly, and to 
take in your presence the oath 
prescribed by the Constitu- 
tion of the United States to 
be taken by the President "be- 
fore he enters on the execution 
of his office." 

I do not consider it neces- 
sary at present for me to dis- 
cuss those matters of adminis- 
tration about which there is no 



special anxiety or excitement. 
Apprehension seems to ex- 
ist among the people of the 
Southern States that hy the 
accession of a Hepubhcan Ad- 
ministration their property 
and their peace and personal 
security are to be endangered. 
There has never been any rea- 
sonable cause for such appre- 
hension. Indeed, the most am- 
ple evidence to the contrary 
has all the while existed and 
been open to their inspection. 
It is found in nearly all the 
published speeches of him who 
now addresses you. I do but 
quote from one of those 
speeches when I declare that 
"I have no purpose, directly 
or indirectly, to interfere with 



the institution of slavery in the 
States where it exists. I be- 
lieve I have no lawful right to 
do so, and I have no inclina- 
tion to do so." Those who 
nominated and elected me did 
so with full knowledge that I 
had made this and many 
similar declarations, and had 
never recanted them. And, 
more than this, they placed in 
the platform for my accep- 
tance, and as a law to them- 
selves and to me, the clear and 
emphatic resolution which I 
now read: 

"Resolved, that the mainte- 
nance inviolate of the rights of 
the States, and especially the 
right of each State to order 
and control its own domestic 



institutions according to its 
own judgment exclusively, is 
essential to that balance of 
power on which the perfection 
and endurance of our political 
fabric depend, and we de- 
nounce the lawless Invasion by 
armed force of the soil of any 
State or Territory, no matter 
under what pretext, as among 
the gravest of crimes." 

I now reiterate these senti- 
ments ; and, in doing so, I only 
press upon the public attention 
the most conclusive evidence of 
which the case is susceptible, 
that the property, peace, and 
security of no section are to 
be in any «ise endangered by 
the now incoming Administra- 
tion. I add, too, that all the 



protection which, consistently 
with the Constitution and the 
laws, can be given, will be 
cheerfully given to all the 
States when lawfully demand- 
ed, for whatever cause — -as 
cheerfully to one section, as to 
another. 

There is much controversy 
about the delivering up of 
fugitives from service or labor. 
The clause I now read is as 
plainly written in the Consti- 
tution as any other of its pro- 
visions: 

"No person held to service 
or labor in one State, under the 
laws thereof, escaping into 
another, shall in consequence 
of any law or regulation there- 
in, be discharged from such 




service or labor, but shall be 
delivered up on claim of the 
party to whom such service or 
labor may be due." 

It is scarcely questioned that 
this provision was intended by 
those who made it for the re 
claiming of what we call fugi 
tive slaves; and the intention 
of the lawgiver is the law. All 
members of Congress swear 
their support to the whole 
Constitution — to this provi 
sion as much as to any otiier 
To the proposition, then, that 
slaves, whose cases come with 
in the terms of this clause 
"shall be delivered up" their 
oaths are mianimous. Now 
if they would make the effort 
in good temper, could they 



«'^ti 




not, with nearly equal unanim- 
ity, frame and pass a law by 
means of which to keep good 
that imanimous oath? 

There is some difference of 
opinion whether this clause 
should be enforced by national 
or by State authority; but 
surely that difference is not a 
very material one. If the 
slave is to be surrendered, it 
can be of but little consequence 
to him, or to others, by which 
authority it is done. And 
should any one, in any case, be 
content that his oath shall go 
unkept, on a merely unsub- 
stantial controversy as to how 
it shall be kept? 

Again, in any law upon this 
subject, ought not all the safe- 




guards of liberty known in 
civilized and humane jurispru- 
dence to be introduced so that 
a free man be not, in any case, 
surrendered as a slave? And 
might it not he well at the 
same time to provide by 
law for the enforcement of 
that clause in the Con- 
stitution which guarantees 
that "the citizens of each 
State shall be entitled to all 
privileges and immunities of 
citizens in the several States"? 
I take the official oath to- 
day with no mental reserva- 
tions and with no purpose to 
construe the Constitution or 
laws by any hypercritical 
rules. And while I do not 
choose now to specify particu- 



lar acts of Congress as proper 
to be enforced, I do suggest 
that it will be much safer for 
all, both in official and private 
stations, to conform to and 
abide by all those acts which 
stand unrepealed, than to vio- 
late any of them trusting to 
find impunity in having them 
held to be unconstitutional. 

It is seventy-two years since 
the first inauguration of a 
President under our National 
Constitution. During that 
period fifteen different and 
greatly distinguished citizens 
have, in succession, admin- 
istered the Executive branch 
of the Government. They 
have conducted it through 
many perils, and generally 



with great success. Yet, with 
all this scope of precedent, I 
now enter upon the same task 
for the hrief constitutional 
term of four years, under 
great and peculiar difficulty. 
A disruption of the Federal 
Union, heretofore only men- 
aced, is now formidably at- 
tempted. 

I hold that, in contempla- 
tion of universal law, and of 
the Constitution, the union of 
these States is perpetual. Per- 
petuity is implied, if not ex- 
pressed, in the fundamental 
law of all national govern- 
ments. It is safe to assert that 
no government proper ever 
had a provision in its organic 
law for its own tennination. 





Continue to execute all the 
express provisions of our Na- 
tional Constitution, and the 
Union will endure forever— it 
being impossible to destroy it 
except by some action not pro- 
vided for in the instrument it- 
self. 

Again, if the United States 
be not a government proper, 
but an association of States in 
the nature of contract merely, 
can it, as a contract, be peace- 
ably unmade by less than all 
the parties who made it? One 
party to a contract may violate 
it— break it, so to speak, but 
does it not require all to law- 
fully rescind it? 

Descending from these gen- 
eral principles, we find the 



•«1^ 



proposition that, in legal con- 
templation, the Union is per- 
petual, confirmed by the his- 
tory of the Union itself. The 
Union is much older than the 
Constitution. It was formed, 
in fact, by the Articles of As- 
sociation in 1774. It was ma- 
tured and continued by the 
Declaration of Independence 
in 1776. It was further ma- 
tured, and the faith of all the 
then thirteen States expressly 
plighted and engaged that it 
should be perpetual, by the 
Articles of Confederation in 
1778. And finaUy, in 1787, 
one of the declared objects for 
ordaining and establishing the 
Constitution was, "to form a 
more perfect Union" 



n 



n;r£ 



But if destruction of the 
Union by one, or by a part 
only, of tbe States be lawfully 
possible, the Union is less per- 
fect than before the Constitu- 
tion, having lost the vital ele- 
ment of perpetuity. 

It follows from these views, 
that no State, upon its own 
mere motion, can lawfully get 
out of the Union; that resolves 
and ordinances to that effect 
are legally void ; and that acts 
of violence, within any State 
or States, against the author- 
ity of the United States, are 
insurrectionary or revolution- 
ary, according to circum- 
stances. 

I therefore consider that, in 
view of the Constitution and 



m 




the laws, the Union is unbrok- 
en; and to the extent of my 
ability, I shall take care, as the 
Constitution itself expressly 
enjoins upon me, that the laws 
of the Union be faithfully exe- 
cuted in all the States. Doing 
this I deem to be only a sim- 
ple duty on my part; and I 
shall perform it, so far as prac- 
ticable, unless my rightful 
masters, the American people, 
shall withhold the requisite 
means, or in some authorita- 
tive manner direct the con- 
trary. I trust this will not be 
regarded as a menace, but only 
as the declared purpose of the 
Union that it will constitution- 
ally defend and maintain it- 
self. 




m 




n. 



In doing this there needs to 
be no bloodshed or violence; 
and there shall be none, unless 
it be forced upon the national 
authority. The power con- 
fided to me will be used to 
hold, occupy, and possess the 
property and places belong- 
ing to the Government, and to 
collect the duties and imposts; 
but beyond what may be ne- 
cessary for these objects, there 
will be no mvasion, no using of 
force against or among the 
people anywhere. AVliere hos- 
tility to the United States, in 
any interior locality, shall be 
so great and universal as to 
prevent competent resident 
citizens from holding the Fed- 
eral offices, there will be no 




attempt to force obnoxious 
strangers among the people 
for that object. While the 
strict legal right may exist in 
the Government to enforce the 
exercise of these offices, the at- 
tempt to do so would be so ir- 
ritating, and so nearly imprac- 
ticable withal, that I deem it 
better to forego for the time 
the uses of such offices. 

The mails, unless repelled, 
will continue to be furnished 
in all parts of the Union. So 
far as possible, the people 
everywhere shall have that 
sense of perfect security which 
is most favorable to calm 
thought and reflection. The 
course here indicated wiU be 
followed unless current events 



and experience shall show a 
modification or change to be 
proper, and in every case and 
exigency my best discretion 
will be exercised according to 
circmnstances actually exist- 
ing, and with a view and a 
hope of a peaceful solution of 
the national troubles, and the 
restoration of fraternal sym- 
pathies and afi'ections. 

That there are persons in 
one section or another who 
seek to destroy the Union at 
all events, and are glad of any 
pretext to do it, I will neither 
affirm nor deny ; but if there be 
such, I need address no word 
to them. To tliose, however, 
who really love the Union, 
may I not speak? 




Before entering upon so 
grave a matter as the destruc- 
tion of our national fabric, 
with all its benefits, its mem- 
ories, and its hopes, would it 
not be wise to ascertain pre- 
cisely why we do it? Will you 
hazard so desperate a step 
while there is any possibility 
that any portion of the ills you 
fly from have no real exist- 
ence? Will you, while the cer- 
tain ills you fly to are greater 
than all the real ones you fly 
from — will you risk the com- 
mission of so fearful a mis- 
take? 

AH profess to be content in 
the Union, if all constitutional 
rights can be maintained. Is 
it true, then, that any right, 




plamly written in the Consti- 
tution, has been denied? I 
think not. Happily the hu- 
man mind is so constituted 
that no party can reach to the 
audacity of doing this. Think, 
if you can, of a single instance 
in which a plainly written pro- 
vision of the Constitution has 
ever been denied. If, by the 
mere force of numbers, a ma- 
jority sliould deprive a minor- 
ity of any clearly written con- 
stitutional right, it might, in a 
moral point of view, justify 
revolution— certainly would, if 
such right were a vital one. 
But such is not our case. All 
the vital rights of minorities 
and of individuals are so plain- 
ly assiu-ed to them by affirma- 



tions and negations, guaran- 
tees and prohibitions, in the 
Constitution, that controver- 
sies never arise concerning 
them. But no organic law can 
ever be framed with a provi- 
sion specifically applicable to 
every question which may oc- 
cur in practical administration. 
No foresight can anticipate, 
nor any document of reason- 
able length contain, express 
provisions for all possible 
questions. Shall fugitives from 
labor be surrendered by na- 
tional or by State authority? 
The Constitution does not ex- 
pressly say. May Congress 
prohibit slavery in the Terri- 
tories? The Constitution does 
not expressly say. Must Con- 



gress protect slavery in the 
Territories? The Constitution 
does not expressly say. 

From questions of this class 
spring all our constitutional 
controversies, and we divide 
upon them into majorities and 
minorities. If the minority 
will not acquiesce, the major- 
ity must, or the Government 
must cease. There is no other 
alternative ; for continuing the 
Government is acquiescence on 
one side or the other. If a 
minority in such case will 
secede rather than acquiesce, 
they make a precedent which 
in turn will divide and ruin 
them; for a minority of their 
own will secede from them 
whenever a majority refuses to 



be controUed by sucb minority. 
For instance, why may not any 
portion of a new confederacy, 
a year or two hence, arbitrarily 
secede again, precisely as por- 
t ons of the present Union now 
cla m to secede from it? All 
1 o cherish disunion senti- 
me its are now being educated 
to the exact temper of doing 
ths. 

Is there such perfect identi- 
ty of interests among the 
States to compose a new 
L 1 ion as to produce harmony 
only, and prevent renewed se- 
cession? 

Plainly, the central idea of 
secession is the essence of an- 
archy. A majority held in re- 
straint by constitutional checks 





and limitations, and always 
changing easily with deliberate C"^« m 
changes of poi)ular opinions '^^' 
and sentiments, is the only true 
sovereign of a free people. 
Whoever rejects it does, of ne- 
cessity, fly to anarchy or to 
despotism. Unanimity is im- 
possible; the rule of a minor- 
ity, as a permanent arrange- 
ment, is wholly inadmissible; 
so that, rejecting the majority K 
principle, anarchy or despot- 
ism in some form is all that is 
left. 

I do not forget the position, 
assmned by some, that consti- 
tutional questions are to be de- 
cided by the Supreme Court; 
nor do I deny that such de- 
cisions must be binding, in any 




case, upon the parties to a suit, 
as to the object of that suit, 
while they are also entitled to 
very high respect and con- 
sideration in all parallel cases 
by all other departments of the 
Government. And while it is 
obviously possible that such 
decision may be erroneous in 
any given case, still the evil 
effect followmg it, being limit- 
ed to that particular case, with 
the chance that itmay be over- 
ruled, and never become a pre- 
cedent for other cases, can bet- 
ter be home than could the 
evils of a different practice. 
At the same time, the candid 
citizen must confess that if tiie 
pohcy of the Government, 
upon vital questions affecting 



L 



the whole people, is to be ir- 
revocably fixed by decisions of 
the Supreme Court, the in- 
stant they are made in ordi- 
nary litigation between parties 
in personal actions, the people 
will have ceased to be their 
own rulers, having to that ex- 
tent practically resigned their 
government into the hands of 
that eminent tribmial. Nor is 
there in this view any assault 
upon the court or the judges. 
It is a duty from which they 
may not shrink to decide cases 
properly brought before them, 
and it is no fault of theirs if 
others seek to turn their de- 
cisions to political purposes. 

One section of our country 
beheves Slavery is right, and 




ought to be extended, while 
the other believes it is wrong, 
and ought not to be extended. 
This is the only substantial 
dispute. The fugitive-slave 
dause of the Constitution, and 
the law for the suppression of 
the foreign slave-trade, are 
each as well enforced, perhaps, 
as any law can ever be in a 
community where the moral 
sense of the people imperfect- 
ly supports the law itself. The 
great body of the people abide 
by the dry legal obligation in 
both cases, and a few break 
over in each. This, I think, 
cannot be perfectly cured; and 
it would be worse in both cases 
after the separation of the sec- 
tions, than before. The for- 



eign slave-trade, now imper- 
fectly suppressed, would be 
ultimately revived without re- 
striction in one section; while 
fugitive slaves, now only par- 
tially surrendered, would not 
he surrendered at all by the 
other. 

Physically speaking, we can- 
not separate. We cannot re- 
move our respective .sections 
from each other, nor build an 
impassable wall between them. 
A husband and wife may be 
divorced, and go out of the 
presence and beyond the reach 
of each other ; but the different 
parts of our country cannot do 
this. They cannot but remain 
face to face, and intercourse, 
either amicable or hostUe, must 




continue between them. Is 
possible, then, to make that in 
tereourse more advantageoua 
or more satisfactory after sap 
aration than before? Can 
aliens make treaties easier than 
friends can make laws? Can 
treaties be more faithfully en 
forced between aliens than 
laws can among friends ? Sup 
pose you go to war, you cannot 
fight always; and when, after 
much loss on both sides, and 
no gain on either, you cease 
fighting, the identical old 
questions as to terms of inter 
course are again upon you. 

This country, with its insti 
tutions, belongs to the people 
■who inhabit it. Whenever 
they shall grow weary of the 



^1 



\K< 



7 




^f 



existing Government they can 
exercise their constitutianal 
right of amending it, or their 
revolutionary right to dismem- 
ber or overthrow it. I cannot 
be ignorant of the fact that 
many worthy and patriotic 
citizens are desirous of having 
the National Constitution 
amended. Wliile I make no 
recommendation of amend- 
ments, I fully recognize the 
rightful authority of the peo- 
ple over the whole subject, to 
be exercised in either of the 
modes prescribed in the instru- 
ment itself; and I should, 
under existing circumstances, 
favor rather than oppose a fair 
oppoi-tunity being afforded the 
people to act upon it. I will 




venture to add, that to me the 
convention mode seems prefer- 
able, in that it allows amend- 
ments to originate witl: the 
people themselves, instead of 
only permitting tliem to take 
or re j ect 2)ropositions origi- 
nated by others, hot especial- 
ly chosen for the purpose, and 
which might not be precisely 
such as they would wish to 
either accept or refuse. I un- 
derstand a proposed amend- 
ment to the Constitution — 
which amendment, however, I 
have not seen — has passed 
Congress, to the effect that the 
Federal Government shall 
never interfere with the do- 
mestic institutions of the 
States, including that of per- 




sons held to service. To avoid 
misconstruction of what I have 
said, I depart from my pur- 
pose, not to speak of particu- 
lar amendments, so far as to 
say that, holding such a provi- 
sion to now be implied consti- 
tutional law, I have no objec- 
tions to its being made express 
and irrevocable. 

The Chief Magistrate de- 
rives all his authority from the 
people, and they have con- 
ferred none upon him to fix {■n} 
terms for the separation of the [w/; 
States. The people them- \i 
selves can do this also if they 
choose; but the Executive, as 
such, has nothing to do with 
it. His duty is to administer 
the present Government, as il 





came to his hands, and to 
transmit it, unimpaired by 
him, to his successor. 

WTiy should there not be a 
patient confidence in the ulti- 
mate justice of the people? Is 
there any better or equal hope 
in the world? In our present 
differences is either party 
■without faith of being in the 
right ? If the Almighty Ruler 
of Nations, with his eternal 
truth and justice, be on your 
side of the North, or on yours 
of the South, that truth and 
that justice will surely pre- 
vail by the judgment of this 
great tribunal of the Ameri- 
can people. 

By the frame of the Govern- 
ment under which we live, this 



same people have wisely ^ven 
their public servants but little 
power for mischief; and have, 
with equal wistlora, provided 
for the return of tliat Httle to 
their own hands at very short 
intervals. While the people 
retain their virtue and vigi- 
lance, no administration, by 
any extreme of wickedness or 
folly, can very seriously injure 
the Government in the short 
space of four years. 

My countrymen, one and 
all, think calmly and "well upon 
this whole subject. Nothing 
valuable can be lost hy taking 
time. If there be an object to 
hurry any of you, in hot haste, 
to a step which you would 
never take deliberately^ that 



object will be frustrated by 
taking time; but no good ob- 
ject can be frustrated by it. 
Such of you as are now dissat- 
isfied, still have the old Consti- 
tution unimpaired, and, on the 
sensitive point, the laws of 
your own framing under it; 
while the new Administration 
will have no immediate power, 
if it would, to change either. 
If it were admitted that you 
who are dissatisfied hold the 
right side in the dispute, there 
still is no single good reason 
for precipitate action. Intelli- 
gence, patriotism, Christian- 
ity, and a firm reliance on Him 
who has never yet forsaken 
this favored land, are still 
competent to adjust, in the 



v-^^^t 



best way, all our present dif- 
ficulty. 

Id your hands, my dissatis- 
fied fellow-countrymen, and 
not in mine, is the momentous 
issue of civil war. The Gov- 
ernment will not assail you. 
You can have no conflict, with- 
out being yourselves the ag- 
gressors. You have no oath 
registered in Heaven to de- 
') stroy the government, while / 
shall have the most solemn one 
to "preserve, protect, and de- 
fend it." 

I am loth to close. We are 
not enemies, but friends. We 
must not be enemies. Though 
passion may have strained, it 
must not break our bonds of 
affection. The mystic chords 




LINCOLN'S 

GETTYSBURG 

ORATION 

AT THE DEDICATION OF THE 
NATIONAL, CEMETEHY, GET- 
TYSBUHG,PA.,N0V.,19, 186S 



Fourscore and seven years 
ago, our fathers brought forth 
on this continent a new na- 
tion, conceived in liberty, and 
dedicated to the proposition 
that all men are created equal. 
Now we are engaged in a 
great civil war, testing wheth- 
er that nation, or any nation 
so conceived and so dedicated, 
can long endure. We are met 
on a great battlefield of that 
war. We have come to dedi- 



Wfej' 



:-'^.-l 



eate a portion of that field as 
a final resting-place for those 
who here gave their lives that 
that nation might live. It is 
altogether fitting and proper 
that we should do this. But 
in a larger sense we cannot 
dedicate, we cannot consecrate, 
we cannot hallow this ground. 
The brave men, living and 
dead, who stniggled 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 unfin- 
ished 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 be- 
fore us— that from these hon- 
ored 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 govern- 
ment of the people, by the peo- 
ple, for the people, shall not 
perish from the eartli. 



if 



LrNCOLN'S SECOND 
INAUGURAL ADDRESS 



delivered on the 
4th of march, 1865 



Fellow-Countrymen : 

At this second appearing to 
take the oath of the Presiden- 
tial office, there is less occasion 
for an extended address than 
there was at the first. Then, 
a statement, somewhat in de- 
tail, of a course to be pursued, 
seemed fitting and proper. 
Now, at the expiration of four 
years, during which public 
declarations have been con- 
stantly called forth on every 
point and phase of the great 
contest which still absorbs the 



attention and engrosses the 
energies of the nation, little 
that is new could he presented. 
The progress of our arms, 
upon which all else chiefly de- 
pends, is as well known to the 
public as to myself; and it is, 
I trust, reasonably satisfac- 
tory and encouraging to all. 
With high hope for the future, 
no prediction in regard to it is 
ventured. 

On the occasion correspond- 
ing to this four years ago, all 
thoughts were anxiously di- 
rected to an impending civil 
war. All dreaded it; all sought 
to avert it. Wliile the inau- 
gural address was being de- 
livered from this place, devot- 
ed altogether to saving the 



Union without war, insurgent 
agents were in the city seeking 
to destroy it without war — 
seeking to dissolve the Union, 
and divide effects, by negotia- 
tion. Both parties deprecated 
war; but one of them would 
make war rather than let the 
nation survive; and the other 
would accept war rather than 
let it perish. And the war 
came. 

One-eighth of the whole 
population were colored slaves, 
not distributed generally over 
the Union, but localized in the 
southern part of it. These 
slaves constituted a peculiar 
and powerful interest. All 
knew that this interest was, 
somehow, the cause of the war. 



To strengthen, perpetuate, 
and extend this interest was 
the object for which the insur- 
gents would rend the Union, 
even by war; while the Gov- 
ernment claimed no right to 
do more than to restrict the 
territorial enlargement of it. 
Neither party expected for the 
war the magnitude or the 
duration which it has already 
attained. Neither anticipated 
that the cause of the conflict 
might cease with, or even be- 
fore, the conflict itself should 
cease. Each looked for an 
easier triumph, and a result 
less fundamental and astound- 
ing. Both read the same 
Bible, and pray to the same 
God; and each invokes His 





If 



aid against the other. It may- 
seem strange that any men 
should dare to ask a j ust God's 
assistance in wringing their 
bread from the sweat of other 
men's faces: but let us judge 
not, that we be not judged. 
The prayers of both could not 
be answered; that of neither 
has been answered fully. The 
Almighty has His own pur- 
poses. "Woe unto the world 
because of offenses 1 for it must 
needs be that offenses come; 
but woe to that man by whom 
the offense cometh." If we 
shall suppose American Slav- 
ery is one of those offenses 
which, in the providence of 
God, must needs come, but 
which, having continued 



If 



through His appointed time, 
He now wills to remove, and 
that He gives to both North 
and South this terrible war, as 
the woe due to those by whom 
the offense came, shall we dis- 
cern therein any departure 
from those divine attributes 
which the believers in a living 
God always ascribe to Him? 
Fondly do we hope, fervently 
do we pray, that this mighty 
scourage of war may speedily 
pass away/ Yet, if God wills 
that it continue until all the 
wealth piled by the bondman's 
two hundred and fifty years 
of unrequited toil shall be 
sunk, and until every drop of 
blood drawn with the lash 
shall be paid by another 



m 



drawn with the sword, as 
was said three thousand 
years ago, so still it must be 
said, "The judgments of the 
Lord ai'e true and righteous 
altogether." 

With malice toward none, 
with chai-ity for all, with firm- 
ness in the right, as God gives 
us to see the right, let us strive 
on to finish the work we are in ; 
to hind up the nation's 
wounds; to care for him who 
shall have borne th^ battle, and 
for his widow, and his orphan; 
to do all which may achieve 
and cherish a just and a last- 
ing peace among ourselves and 
with all nations. 







3 2044 020 021 J 



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