THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS \ x ABRAHAM LINCOLN As he appeared in 1860 at the time of his election to the presidency. AN ANALYSIS GETTYSBURG ADDRESS COMPILED BY JOSEPH B. OAKLEAF r. MOLINE, ILLINOIS DESAULNIERS & CO., PRINTERS 1908 GiM Aulht (Perils 10- '^B .S5- AM offering this little book- let to those who are inter- ested in matters concerning Lincoln, as a souvenir of the Ninety-ninth Anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. Much has been said and written about the address which Mr. Lincoln delivered at Gettysburg and some wrong statements have been made as to how, where and when it was pre- pared but by following the sugges- tions I have made herein the student can learn the facts. 1 am indebted to Rev. Frederick Gotwald, of York, Pennsylvania, for the cuts which appear herein ; they were used by the Board of Education of the General Synod of the Evangel- ical Lutheran Church in a pamphlet entitled " Gettysburg, Lincoln's Address and Our Educational In- stitution." Joseph B. Oakleaf. Moline, Illinois February 12, 1908 THE WILLS HOUSE Southeast corner of Square and York street. Presi- dent Lincoln was the guest of Judge Wills from November 18 to November 19, 1863, occupying the second-story room just over the Judge's office, facing the Square. This photograph was taken soon after this, and shows Judge Wills standing on his porch. PRESIDENT LINCOLN As he appeared when address was delivered. E find the Gettysburg address of Abraham Lincoln in the text- books of our schools as a model of good Enghsh, and it ought to be an incentive to the young men of our country, who have not the means to secure a high school or college education, that they can accomplish much by applying themselves properly and making proper use of their time, for Abraham Lincoln was self- taught, self-made, and the address delivered at Gettysburg has no peer in the English language. Some term it an oration but it was not so intended. It is true that it has all the elements of a classic oration, but, being brief, it was intended for, and should be termed an address. The committee who had charge of the arrangements of the dedicatory ceremonies of the Gettysburg cemetery, desired the presi- dent to be present, and the invitation by Judge David Wills, a resident of Gettysburg, was as follows: "It is the desire that after the oration, you as chief executive of the nation, formally set apart these grounds to their sacred use by a few appropriate remarks. It will be a source of great gratification to the many widows and orphans that have been made almost friendless by the great battle here, to have you here personally; and it will kindle anew in the breasts of the comrades of these brave dead, who are now in the tented field or nobly meeting the foe in the front, a confidence that they who sleep in death on the battle-field are not forgotten by those highest in authority; and they will feel that, should their fate be the same, their remains will not be uncared for. We hope you will be able to be present to perform this last solemn act to the soldier dead on this battle-field." Mr. Lincoln, knowing that Mr. Everett would deliver the oration on the occasion, did not intend to take the time to go over the ground that Mr. Everett would naturally cover. Much has been said and written as to how, where and when the address was pre- pared. Mr. Lincoln always prepared the remarks that he expected to make with much care and thought and no occasion was too simple for him to give the matter of his remarks sufficient forethought if he knew beforehand that he would be expected to speak and he did not depart from his usual and excellent custom in this case. He knew that it would be a representative gathering and he certainly expected that what he would say would become history but he did not expect, nor could he dream, that his address would be adopted by the educational institu- tions of his country as a model of good English. The first part of the address was written at Washington and finished at his room in the home of Judge Wills, whose guest he was during his stay at Gettysburg. After having prepared the address and being satisfied with it, he sent it to Mr. Seward, who was present at Gettysburg as a guest, for his approval. Mr. Seward was the scholar of the cabinet yet he could not overrule the president if the president once made up his mind that what he had said or written was what he intended should be given to the people or become a part of the records. Mr. Nicolay says that there are three ver- sions of authority for Lincoln's Gettysburg address: First — The original autograph manu- script draft, written by Mr. Lincoln, partly at Washington and partly at Gettysburg. Second — The version made by the short- hand reporter on the stand at Gettysburg, when the president delivered it, which was telegraphed and was printed in the leading newspapers of the country on the following morning. Third — The revised copy made by the president a few days after his return to Washington, upon a careful comparison of his original draft, and the printed newspaper version, with his own recollections of the exact form in which he delivered it. But the following is the one that has been approved by Mr. Lincoln himself: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedi- cated to the proposition that all men are created equal. "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle- field of that war. We are met to dedicate a Portion of it as the final resting place of 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 dedi- cate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have conse- crated it far above our 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 unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task re- maining before us, — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, — that we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom, and that the government of the people, by the people, and for the People, shall not perish from the earth. " It would be well for the student, or any- one who takes an interest in matters concern- ing Lincoln, to read "Lincoln at Gettysburg" by Clark E. Carr, and " Gettysburg and Lincoln" by Henry Sweetser Burrage, and also the article by Mr. Nicolay which appears in the February 1894 number of the Century Magazine. The two books mentioned above should be read by all for there is much food for thought within their covers. Anyone reading the immortal address of Abraham Lincoln for the first time is astounded at the simplicity of the language and yet so much said. Samuel H. Kerfoot, Jr., a member of the executive committee of the Chicago Historical Society, has made a study of the address and the following analysis is the result : " The oration contains 266 words — 1150 letters. "There are 193 words of one syllable each. "There are 48 words of two syllables each. "There are 17 words of three syllables each. "There are 8 words of four syllables each. "Two of the disyllabics contain but three letters each. "Seven of the disyllabics contain but five letters each. "Three of the trisyllabics contain but seven letters each. "Four of the quadrisyllabics are 'conse- crated', 'altogether', 'proposition' and 'unfin- ished.' 'Dedicated' used four times making up a total of eight quadrisyllables. "The quadrisyllables average less than ten letters each. "The entire 266 words average less than five letters each. "The words 'The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here' are a proof of the modesty of Lincoln. The speech is known wherever the English tongue is spoken." Mr. Carr, in his excellent little volume, offers the following analysis of the Gettysburg address: "Short as is Mr. Lincoln's Gettysburg ad- dress, it contains all the elements of an elab- orate and finished oration, — exordium, argu- ment, climax and peroration. While each of these divisions is far more extended in Mr. Everett's oration, they are not more marked than in Mr. Lincoln's. "In his exordium, consisting of five simple sentences, each one of which recalls a fact apparent to every hearer, he lays foundations for the superstructure upon which he builds, broad and deep. " 'Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 'Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We are met to dedicate a por- tion of it as the final resting place of those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.' "After thus laying the foundation, he states the argument: " 'But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our 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 unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on.' "And, to make the argument stronger, to clinch it, as we would say, he repeats: " 'It is rather for us to be dedicated here to the great task remaining before us, — that from these honored dead we take increased devo- tion to the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.' "And then follows the climax: " 'That we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain.' "And then the peroration: 'That the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom; and that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.' C. W. Foss, Ph. D., of Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, in a lecture to his class, on the Gettysburg address said: "It was said of a painting of Polyxena by Polygnotus that 'She carried in her eyelids the whole history of the Trojan war.' And, indeed, it may be possible for a great artist or thinker to compress the picture of a whole age into a mere point. Thus did Lincoln in his memorable Gettysburg address concen- trate into a few sentences a whole century of our nation's history. For what the United States was to contribute to mankind and to civilization during the first century of its existence Lincoln has here set forth with a comprehensiveness, a depth, and a simplicity which challenges the admiration of the whole thinking world. "The origin, the principles and the purposes of our government are first set forth. These principles were entirely new in the history of government, and the attempt to put them into operation was to a great extent an ex- periment. In the course of a few score years these principles were put to a severe test. A great world contest was fought out. The question at issue was whether a 'gov- ernment of the people, by the people, and for the people' could long maintain itself. Not only we of the north and our brethren of the south were interested in the issue of that contest, but, indeed the whole world, and races and nations yet unborn. As the issue was so momentous no sacrifices could be too ruiiAAni wr OUINUntib 013 425 266 2 great, and the nation poured forth its best blood upon the sacred altars of its many battlefields. The honored dead had already consecrated their final resting places, and Lincoln called upon thelivingtodedicatethem- selves to the great work, that the nation might be preserved and that the principles and bless- ings of liberty might not be lost to the world. "In this brief address, Lincoln has given us an epitome of our history and presented the important facts of its two chief periods — the formation of our nation and government and the preservation of the same — the period of Washington and that of Lincoln himself." The Gettysburg address will be read by each succeeding generation to the end of time and its beauty will increase from year to year and stand as a shining mark to the memory of the "First American." MONUMENT IN NATIONAL CEMETERY Stands where Lincoln delivered his address. The closing part of address is carved on face of monument. ?.TA C'