The Washington critic., 1888-02-18
LINCOLN GETTYSBURG.
Conflicting Accounts of His Speech
at The Cemetery Dedication.
EX-G0V. CURTIN'S STATEMENT
A Wonderful Enort-Mr. EverctCs
Peroration-The Dirge by II.
II. French.
Contributed TO TnE WAsulNaroy CRtrtc Inv
HnrhfIn Einm. ex .pnstLn .tnr- L..unrnI 1 :.


Contributed TO The WASHINGTON CRtrlc by
Horatio King exPostmaster.Genera
There have been so many conflicting
statements about President Lincoln's Get
tysburg speech that have taken pains TO
bring some of them together, with view
to see if there is any way to get at the
truth. In the first place, as to the man
ner of its writing and delivery. Mr.. Ed
ward MCPHERSON, formerly Member of
Congress from the Gettysburg district, and
since Clerk Of the House of Representa-
tives, in an article published last summer
in the New York Sun, SAYS:
was his president Llnooln's) seat.mate
In the car going TO the dedication of the Get.
tysburg Cemetery, November 10, 1853, and
though be talked pleasantly, and spoke Of the
country through which we were passing, yet
thought he was laboring with one of those
spells Of profound melancholy with which he
was at times afflicted. lie sat for
some moments absorbed IN thought, and at
last began TO feel in his pockets, as If for
loose paper. asked him II he wanted paper
and pencil, and he said, ayes, a scrap OF
paper" and opened my valise and gave him
up his long knees, and putting book ON
them, wrote, jottng down, as | supposed, a
few heads or suggestions. He wrote right
along without hesitation or erasuro, and
Blled one page and a part of another. Then
he folded IL up and put II into his pocket,
simply saying that he had set down few
lines that had occurred to him TO say"
Mr. Mcpherson adds that MrsLincoln
spoke from this manuscript that his re-
marks were but imperiectly heard and
family appreciated, and that II was not
till afterward that their singular beauty
and fitness were observed.
The reporter of the New York Times,
as quoted by the Springfield Republican,
says Mr.. Lincoln spoke from manu-
script, referring to it as often as once for
each sentence-that he spoke IN q loud
voice and was loudly applauded. He
says that when the President had fin
ished, 1t is related that Mr.. Everett, the
orator of the day, who had spoken before
him, grasped Mr.. Lincoln's hand warmly
and said in substance, "What ] have said
here viii be forgotten, but your words
will live"
Mr.. John Russell Young, who, as re-
porter for the Philadelphia Press, was
also present, states that Mr.. Lincoln
took the single sheet of foolscap. held
it almost to his nose, and in his-nigh
tenor voice, without the least atteni5aS3r
effect, delivered that most extraoFthHprs'
address. There were four or f1Svi,
thousand people present. Very sew4ieard
what Mr.. Lincoln said, and it is cuaoRs
thing that his remarkable words Sfjtxu
have made no particular impression at
the time"
COLONEL Lannon's STATEMENT.
Let us next hear what Colonel Ward ii 4.
Lamon, one of Mr. Lincoln's most init
mate associates before as well as after his
election, says in the Philadelphia Times,
octcoer 1, 1887:
A day or two before the dedication, Mr.
Lincoln told me he would be expected to
make speech on the occasion; that he was
extremely busy, with no time for preparation,
and that he greatly feared he would not be
able to acqut himself with credit, much less
to fill the measure of public expectation.
From his hat (the usual receptacle of his pri-
vate notes and memoranda) he drew a page of
foolscap, closely written, which he read to me,
first remarking that it was memorandum of
what he intended TO say. IL proved TO be In
substance and think, In haec rey5a, what
was printed as his Gettysburg speech. After
Its delivery he expressed deer-segret that -
had nof prepared 1t with greater
said TO me on the stand, immedis
concluding the speech: "Lamon, tnat speecn
won't scour IL Is fat failure and the people
are dieoppointad " on the platform
from which Mr.. Lincoln made his addres 5
and only a moment after its conclu.
sion, Mr.. seward turned to Mr.. Ever
EFT and asked him what he thought
of the Presidents speech. Mr.. Everett
replied: at was not what | expected from
him. ] am disappointed. In his turn Mr..
ell cd hot a Of { Me-
Seward !" The response was: "He has made
a failure, and / am sorry for 1t. His speech is
not equal to hin." Mr.. Seward then turned
| TO me and asked "Mr. Marshal, what do you
think Of itT answered: 81 am sorry to say
| II does not impress me as one of his great
| speeches" In the face of these facts II has
been repeatedly published that this speech
was received with great eclat by the audi
ence; that amid the tears, sobs and cheers 1t
produced in the excited throng, the orator of
the day, Mr.. Everett, turned impulsively to
Mr.. Lincoln, grasped his hand and ex-
| claimed: II congratulate you on your sue
| cess !" adding in transport Of heated enthu.
siasm: "Ah, Mr. President how gladly would
| give all my hundred pages to be the author
OF your twenty linesi" All this unworthy
| gush II is needless to say, Is purely apocry-
phal. Nothing of the kind occurred.
ih d IldlltI Vt ldCt, MT. LlHCOlnS great OeJ-
tysburg speech fell on the vast audience like
a wet blanket. 1t was then (after
Lincons DEATH that we began to realize
that IL was indeed q masterpiece, and
IL then dawned upon many minds that we had
entertained an angel unawares, who had left
us unappreciated.
GOV. cURTIN's REcoLLEcTIoNs.
Now listen to what Andrew G. Curtin,
the distinguished war Governor and
statesman of Pennsylvania, says. Re-
membering to have heard him relate the
story of the writing and delivery of Mr..
Lincoln's extraordinary address, which
now "belongs to the classics of literature"
it was in May, 1885, while riding with
him and others over the battlefield, and
when he pointed out to me the house of
Mr.. Wills, in the village where, he says, he
saw Mr.. Lincoln engaged in writing It'll
called on him at his hotel in this city q
few days ago, and, with pencil in hand to
make sure of his exact words, asked him
to repeat the account. He said:
saw Mr.. Lincoln writing his address in
Mr.. now judge Wills's house, on long
yellow envelope. He may have written some
of IL before. He said: ~ will go and show 1t
TO Seward who stopped at another house,;
which he did, and then returned and copied
4