Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-03-03
LINCOLN'S SPEECH.
Notes and Memoranda-The Speech Not
Received with Favor.

\ day or two before the dedication of
Lincoln told me that he would be ex-
pected to make a 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 acquit himself
with credit, much less to fill the measure
of public expectation. From his hat (the
usual receptacle of his private notes and
memoranda) he drew a page of foolscap
closely written, which he read me, first
remarking that it was a memorandum of
what he had intended to say. 1t proved
to be in substance, and | think haze verba,
what was printedas his Gettysburg speech
After its delivery he expressed deep re-
greet that he had not prepared it with
greater care. He said to me on the stand
Immediately after concluding the speech,
Lamon, that speech won't scourl 1t is
flat failure, and the people are disappoint-
ed" He seemed more than ordinarily
concerned about what the people would
think OF it. was deeply impressed by his
frank and regretful condemnation of the
effort, and especially by his manner of ex-
pressing that regret; and my own impress
sion was deepened by the fact that the ora
tor of the day, Mr.. Everett, and Mr. Sew
ard both conceded with Mr.. Lincoln in
his unfavorable view of its merits
On the platform from which Mr.. Lin
coin had made his address, and only mo-
ment after its conclusion, Mr.Seward turned
to Mr.. Everett and asked him what he
thought of the Presidents speech. Mr..
Everett replied; at was not what | ex-
pected from him. l am disappointed"
In his turn Mr.. Everett asked "What
do you think of it, Mr.. Seward ?" The re-
Spouse was: "He has made a failure, and
| am sorry for it. His speech is not equal
to him." Mr.. Seward then turned to me
and asked: "Mr Marshal, what do you
think of it?" | answered: 81 am sorry to
say that it does not impress me as one of
his great speeches"
In the face of these facts it has been re-
peatedly published that this speech was
received with great eclat by the audience :;
that "amid the tears, sobs and cheers it
produced in the excited throng the orator
of the day, Mr.. Everett turned impulsively
to Mr.. Lincoln, grasped his hand and ex-
claimed: | congratulate you on your sue
cess adding in transport of heated en-
thusiasm: All. Mr.. President, how gladly
would I give my hundred pages to be the
author of your twenty lines
All this unworthy gush, it is needless to
say, is purely apocryphal. Nothing of the
kind occurred. As matter of fact, Mr.
Lincoln's great Gettysburg speech fell on
the vast audience like a wet blanket At
that time his reputation was confessedly
on the wane. The politicians of the coun-
try-those of his own party, together with
4 large part of the press-were casting
about for an available candidate to be his
successor, while 4 great majority of the
people were for him. | state it as fact,
and without fear of contradiction, that this
famous Gettysburg speech was not received
or commented upon with anything like
hearty favor by the people, the politicians
or the press of the United States, until
after the death of the author. Its marvel
Gus perfection, its intrinsic excellence as a
masterpiece of English composition, seem
to have escaped the scrutiny of the most
scholarly critics and the wisest heads of
the day, on this side of the Atlantic. That
discovery was made, we must regretfully
own, by distinguished writers on the other
side. The London Spectator, the Saturday
Reriew, the Edinburgh Reriew and other
European journals were the first to dis
cover, or at least to proclaim, the classical
merits of the Gettysburg speech. 1t was
then that we began to realize that it was
indeed masterpiece, and it then dawned
upon many minds that we had entertained
an angel unawares who had left us unap-
preciated.-I Ward II. Lannon's Letter.