Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1909-10-05

luSIn StdIcS were geIClnS ready TO Sc
milton in his address at the unveiling
ysburg address, donated by T. D. Fos.
fully filled his Office than Abraham
ming his address Mr.. Hamilton stated
we'll paint in words the real heart OF
burg address. The full text Of Mr..
u prove of interest:
and here one of them lies buried.
know not how soon shall see you
again. A duty devolyes upon me which
perhaps is greater than that which
has deVolved upon any other man
since the days of Washington He new
er would have succeeded except for
the aid of Divine Providence, upon
which he at all times relied-I feel
that cannot succeed without the
same Divine aid which sustained him
and on the same Almighty Being
place my reliance for support, and /
hope you, my friends, will all pray
that may receive that Divine assur-
ance, without which cannot succeed,
but with which success is certain.
Again, | bid you all an affectionate
| farewell
i have said that then and there Mr..
Lincoln took up his cross, and he did
this just as the boys in blue, following
his call, took up their cross. His and
their lives were in peril all the days of
their service. and he fell, notwith-
standing the constant guard about
him, in the hour of final victory.
Two things are apparent unmista-
kably in his words to his neighbors,
one that he was setting out upon a
journey and a duty extremely perilous
to his life and task of momentous
import to his country, and the other
was that he bore his cross under the
guidance of God, with the assurance
in his own words with his aid sue
cess is certain
Now come to quote from MIN
again. make my selection
from conversation he had
lin the spring of 1864 with
Governor Bramlittle and others OF
Kentucky, and afterwards embodied
in a letter to one of the party. This
letter select from a great number
OF remarkable utterances by Mr.. Lin
coin because in it he reveals his open.
hearted fairness, his irresistible clear,
ness and force In stating his case and
as usual at all times when pertinent
he closes with a full recognition of an
overruling divine power touching sla;
very, about which the letter treats:
Executive Mansion, April a. 1864.
| "A. G. Hodges, ESQ. Frankfort, KY,
My Dear Sir.--You ask me to put in
| writing the substance of what / verbal
| ly said the other day in your presence
| to Governor Bramlittle and Senator
| Dixon-it was about as follows. | am
naturally anti-slavery. II slavery is moi
wrong, nothing iss;wrong. / cannot re
4 member when I did not SO think and
4 feel, and yet | have never understood
that the presidency conferred upor
me an unrestricted right to act Off
cially upon this judgment and feeling
4 1t was in the oath took that would
/ to the best of my ability preserve. pro
| tect and defend the constitution oi
1.-THE United States. could not take the
Office without taking the oath, noi
was it my view that might take any
oath to get power and break the oatl
| in using the power. understood, too
that in ordinary civil administration
this oath ever forbade me to practical
Fly indulge my primary abstract iudg
/ lllCIII Oll Inv ibOt ll luSoIIOH OIL STA
very. had publicly declared this
many times and In many ways Anc
aver that to this day have done nc
official act in mere Difference to my
abstract Judgment and feeling on sla
VERY. / did understand, however. thai
my oath to preserve the constitution
to the best of my ability, imposed
upon me the duty of preserving Dy
every indispensable means, that gov
ernment, that nation, of which tha
constitution was the organic law
| was it possible to lose the nation ant
yet preserve the constitution? By ger
eral law, life and limb must be pro
ttected, yet often a limb must be am
Eputated to save life; but life /.
never wisely given to preserve limb
j felt that measures otherwise uncon
Institutional, might become lawful, b.
lbecoming indispensable to the preser
walton of the constitution, through
the preservation of the nation. Righ
or wrong, / assumed this ground ant
now avow it. could not feel that t,
the best of my ability had even tries