Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Abraham Lincoln

There will be a new Steven Spielberg movie coming out on Friday and there is a real Oscar buzz about it.  I hope that people will go to see a movie about Lincoln and that it will be a hit.  There are many reasons to have liked him as a President but one of the things that I have always admired is that even though he was largely self-educated, he is one of the best writers that this country has ever produced.  There is some doubt as to whether he wrote this  letter to Mrs. Bixby, a woman who lost sons in the Civil War, but I think it sounds very much like him.


Executive Mansion,
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.

Dear Madam,
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
A. Lincoln

I was reminded of this letter recently when I read the post by Tracey from her blog in England when she researched the story behind seeing the same surnames on a World War I Memorial and finding that so many had died from the same family.  (Tracey's blog name is Breathing English Air.   You may read her post here.)

The speech that Abraham Lincoln gave at Gettysburg is very famous and rightfully so.  I so much love someone who speaks in a very clear, direct manner and gets his or her point across in the fewest possible words.  This speech was so brief that the photographers of the time were still setting up by the time Lincoln finished speaking.

 In March of 1865, Lincoln gave his second inaugural speech.  In just over a month, he would be gone.  

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

23 comments:

  1. He did have an amazing way with words, and knew when to stand on his convictions even when his whole cabinet was advising against certain things.

    Altogether an amazing life cut short.

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    1. I hope that they do a good job with the movie and have not made it too "Hollywood" if you know what I mean.

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  2. I have seen the previews of this movie on TV and I am interested in seeing it.

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    1. Me too, but I usually can't go to the movies to see a film these days. Too expensive and also they don't usually come up to my expectations!

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  3. I think it is going to be a great movie. I am anxious to see it -and there are not many movies that I am anxious to see anymore- He was an amazing, humble man- xo Diana

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    1. I didn't really convey how much I like him, always hard for me to write about the people I admire the most.
      Also, must tell you, I talked with a Mr. Cheek yesterday at work, and I almost called him Mr. "Sweet Cheeks". That's your fault! ;-)

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  4. I'm looking forward to this movie very much. Daniel Day-Lewis is ALWAYS amazing in any role he plays.

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    1. Yes, except for "There Will Be Blood", that is one movie that I did not care for!
      And Liam Neeson was the one who was rumored to be the actor up for this role and I wonder what he could have done with it? We will never know...

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  5. I cannot wait for this movie! Like you, I also thought he was such a great writer.

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    1. And I admired him so very much but hard for me to convey it in my little blog!

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  6. This looks really interesting, Kay! The previews look really good.

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    1. Let me know if you see this movie and what you think of it! :-)

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  7. Yes, this is one movie I'd definitely like to see, even though we know how it ends.

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    1. Yes, we do know, it ends with a great tragedy, for the whole country.

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  8. I'm really looking forward to this one and I predict there won't be a dry eye in any theatre it plays.

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    1. Dear Jane,
      I know, it makes me cry just thinking about it.

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  10. Kay - I am really looking forward to this movie. I think Daniel Day Lewis is a great actor and should be wonderful in this role. This summer I took my kid's to see the Lincoln Homestead. I think I'll take them back when they are a little older so they can fully appreciate this great President's Kentucky roots.

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    1. Abraham Lincoln came from very humble beginnings and I hope that children still learn that today. Do kids even know history these days? As parents, we need to make sure that they do!

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  11. I am looking forward to seeing this one too, Kay. We usually wait for the DVD because no one seems to know how to sit quietly in the cinema any more! Thank you for the mention.

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    1. I know just what you mean. I usually wait for the DVD myself!
      And your post that you did where you did the research on that family, it was such a good post, I hope people will read it!

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  12. I've been hearing so much about Lincoln and can't wait to go and see it. We have it penned in for this coming week. I also want to see Life of Pi. I've been to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois several times and it always moves me to think of what that great man accomplished and how much he suffered for it.

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    1. Let me know if you see the Lincoln movie and what you think of it.
      Life of Pi sounds interesting, I wonder if they will make a good movie out of it? I know the book was very popular.

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