http://www.wordnik.com/lists/prosie-lincoln-s-second-inaugural-address.xml (Given Saturday, March 4, 1865, Washington, D.C.) <br /> <br />Fellow-<a href="/words/Countrymen">Countrymen</a>: <br />At this <a href="/words/second">second</a> <a href="/words/appearing">appearing</a> to take the <a href="/words/oath">oath</a> of the <a href="/words/Presidential">Presidential</a> <a href="/words/office">office</a> there is <a href="/words/less occasion">less occasion</a> for an <a href="/words/extended">extended</a> <a href="/words/address">address</a> than there was at the <a href="/words/first">first</a>. Then a <a href="/words/statement">statement</a> somewhat in detail of a <a href="/words/course">course</a> to be <a href="/words/pursued">pursued</a> seemed <a href="/words/fitting">fitting</a> and <a href="/words/proper">proper</a>. Now, at the <a href="/words/expiration">expiration</a> of four years, during which <a href="/words/public declaration">public declaration</a>s have been <a href="/words/constantly">constantly</a> <a href="/words/called forth">called forth</a> on every <a href="/words/point">point</a> and <a href="/words/phase">phase</a> of the <a href="/words/great contest">great contest</a> which <a href="/words/still">still</a> <a href="/words/absorb">absorb</a>s the <a href="/words/attention">attention</a> and <a href="/words/engross">engross</a>es the <a href="/words/energies">energies</a> of the <a href="/words/nation">nation</a>, <a href="/words/little">little</a> that is new could be presented. The <a href="/words/progress">progress</a> of our <a href="/words/arms">arms</a>, upon which all else <a href="/words/chiefly">chiefly</a> <a href="/words/depend">depend</a>s, is as well known to the public as to <a href="/words/myself">myself</a>, and it is, I <a href="/words/trust">trust</a>, <a href="/words/reasonably satisfactory">reasonably satisfactory</a> and <a href="/words/encouraging">encouraging</a> to all. With <a href="/words/high hope">high hope</a> for the <a href="/words/future">future</a>, no <a href="/words/prediction">prediction</a> in <a href="/words/regard">regard</a> to it is <a href="/words/ventured">ventured</a>. <br /> <br />On the <a href="/words/occasion">occasion</a> <a href="/words/corresponding">corresponding</a> to this <a href="/words/four years ago">four years ago</a> <a href="/words/all thoughts">all thoughts</a> were <a href="/words/anxiously">anxiously</a> <a href="/words/directed">directed</a> to an <a href="/words/impending">impending</a> <a href="/words/civil war">civil war</a>. All <a href="/words/dreaded">dreaded</a> it, all <a href="/words/sought">sought</a> to <a href="/words/avert">avert</a> it. While the <a href="/words/inaugural">inaugural</a> address was being <a href="/words/delivered">delivered</a> from this <a href="/words/place">place</a>, <a href="/words/devoted">devoted</a> <a href="/words/altogether">altogether</a> to <a href="/words/saving">saving</a> the <a href="/words/Union">Union</a> without <a href="/words/war">war</a>, <a href="/words/insurgent">insurgent</a> <a href="/words/agents">agents</a> were in the <a href="/words/city">city</a> <a href="/words/seeking to destroy">seeking to destroy</a> it without war--seeking to <a href="/words/dissolve">dissolve</a> the Union and <a href="/words/divide">divide</a> effects by <a href="/words/negotiation">negotiation</a>. Both <a href="/words/parties">parties</a> <a href="/words/deprecated">deprecated</a> war, but one of them would <a href="/words/make war">make war</a> <a href="/words/rather">rather</a> than <a href="/words/let the nation survive">let the nation survive</a>, and the other would <a href="/words/accept war">accept war</a> rather than <a href="/words/let it perish">let it perish</a>, and <a href="/words/the war came">the war came</a>. <br /> <br />One-eighth of the <a href="/words/whole">whole</a> <a href="/words/population">population</a> were <a href="/words/colored">colored</a> <a href="/words/slaves">slaves</a>, not <a href="/words/distributed">distributed</a> generally over the Union, but <a href="/words/localized">localized</a> in the <a href="/words/southern">southern</a> part of it. These slaves <a href="/words/constituted">constituted</a> a <a href="/words/peculiar">peculiar</a> and <a href="/words/powerful">powerful</a> <a href="/words/interest">interest</a>. All knew that this interest was <a href="/words/somehow">somehow</a> <a href="/words/the cause">the cause</a> of the war. To <a href="/words/strengthen">strengthen</a>, <a href="/words/perpetuate">perpetuate</a>, and <a href="/words/extend">extend</a> this interest was the <a href="/words/object">object</a> for which the insurgents would <a href="/words/rend">rend</a> the Union even by war, while the <a href="/words/Government">Government</a> <a href="/words/claimed">claimed</a> <a href="/words/no right">no right</a> to do more than to <a href="/words/restrict">restrict</a> the <a href="/words/territorial">territorial</a> <a href="/words/enlargement">enlargement</a> of it. <a href="/words/Neither party">Neither party</a> expected for the war the <a href="/words/magnitude">magnitude</a> or the <a href="/words/duration">duration</a> which it has already <a href="/words/attained">attained</a>. <a href="/words/Neither">Neither</a> <a href="/words/anticipated">anticipated</a> that the cause of the conflict might <a href="/words/cease">cease</a> <a href="/words/with or even before">with or even before</a> the conflict itself should cease. <a href="/words/Each">Each</a> looked for an <a href="/words/easier">easier</a> <a href="/words/triumph">triumph</a>, and a <a href="/words/result">result</a> less <a href="/words/fundamental">fundamental</a> and <a href="/words/astounding">astounding</a>. Both <a href="/words/read the same Bible">read the same Bible</a> and <a href="/words/pray to the same God">pray to the same God</a>, and each <a href="/words/invoke">invoke</a>s His <a href="/words/aid">aid</a> against the other. It may seem <a href="/words/strange">strange</a> that any <a href="/words/men">men</a> should <a href="/words/dare">dare</a> to ask a <a href="/words/just God">just God</a>'s <a href="/words/assistance">assistance</a> in <a href="/words/wringing">wringing</a> their <a href="/words/bread">bread</a> from the <a href="/words/sweat">sweat</a> of other men's <a href="/words/faces">faces</a>, but <a href="/words/let us judge not, that we be not judged">let us judge not, that we be not judged</a>. The <a href="/words/prayer">prayer</a>s of both could not be <a href="/words/answered">answered</a>. That of neither has been answered <a href="/words/fully">fully</a>. The <a href="/words/Almighty">Almighty</a> has His own <a href="/words/purposes">purposes</a>. "<a href="/words/Woe">Woe</a> unto the world because of <a href="/words/offenses">offenses</a>; for <a href="/words/it must needs be">it must needs be</a> that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense <a href="/words/cometh">cometh</a>." If we shall suppose that <a href="/words/American slavery">American slavery</a> is one of those offenses which, in the <a href="/words/providence">providence</a> of God, must needs come, but which, having <a href="/words/continued">continued</a> through His <a href="/words/appointed">appointed</a> time, He now wills to <a href="/words/remove">remove</a>, and that He gives to both <a href="/words/North">North</a> and <a href="/words/South">South</a> this <a href="/words/terrible">terrible</a> war as the woe <a href="/words/due">due</a> to those by whom the offense came, shall we <a href="/words/discern">discern</a> <a href="/words/therein">therein</a> any <a href="/words/departure">departure</a> from those <a href="/words/divine">divine</a> <a href="/words/attributes">attributes</a> which the <a href="/words/believers">believers</a> in a <a href="/words/living God">living God</a> always <a href="/words/ascribe">ascribe</a> to Him? <a href="/words/Fondly do we hope">Fondly do we hope</a>, <a href="/words/fervently do we pray">fervently do we pray</a>, that <a href="/words/this mighty scourge of war">this mighty scourge of war</a> may <a href="/words/speedily pass away">speedily pass away</a>. Yet, if God wills that it <a href="/words/continue">continue</a> until all the <a href="/words/wealth">wealth</a> <a href="/words/piled">piled</a> by the <a href="/words/bondsman">bondsman</a>'s <a href="/words/two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil">two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil</a> shall be <a href="/words/sunk">sunk</a>, and until <a href="/words/every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword">every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword</a>, <a href="/words/as was said three thousand years ago">as was said three thousand years ago</a>, <a href="/words/so still it must be said">so still it must be said</a> "<a href="/words/the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether">the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether</a>." <br /> <br /><a href="/words/With malice toward none">With malice toward none</a>, <a href="/words/with charity for all">with charity for all</a>, <a href="/words/with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right">with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right</a>, <a href="/words/let us strive on to finish the work we are in">let us strive on to finish the work we are in</a>, [to bind up the nation's wounds], <a href="/words/to care for him who shall have borne the battle">to care for him who shall have borne the battle</a> and <a href="/words/for his widow and his orphan">for his widow and his orphan</a>, <a href="/words/to do all">to do all</a> which may <a href="/words/achieve">achieve</a> and <a href="/words/cherish">cherish</a> <a href="/words/a just and lasting peace">a just and lasting peace</a> <a href="/words/among ourselves">among ourselves</a> and <a href="/words/with all nations">with all nations</a>. http://www.wordnik.com http://www.wordnik.com/words/countrymen Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:30:46 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/countrymen http://www.wordnik.com/words/second Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:30:40 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/second http://www.wordnik.com/words/appearing Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:30:33 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/appearing http://www.wordnik.com/words/oath Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:30:27 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/oath http://www.wordnik.com/words/presidential Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:30:20 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/presidential http://www.wordnik.com/words/office Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:30:12 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/office http://www.wordnik.com/words/less occasion Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:30:04 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/less occasion http://www.wordnik.com/words/extended Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:29:59 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/extended http://www.wordnik.com/words/address Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:29:54 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/address http://www.wordnik.com/words/first Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:29:50 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/first http://www.wordnik.com/words/statement Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:29:46 +0000 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http://www.wordnik.com/words/point http://www.wordnik.com/words/phase Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:28:48 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/phase http://www.wordnik.com/words/great contest Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:28:44 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/great contest http://www.wordnik.com/words/still Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:28:37 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/still http://www.wordnik.com/words/absorb Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:28:34 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/absorb http://www.wordnik.com/words/attention Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:28:28 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/attention http://www.wordnik.com/words/engross Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:28:24 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/engross http://www.wordnik.com/words/energies Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:28:19 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/energies http://www.wordnik.com/words/nation Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:28:15 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/nation http://www.wordnik.com/words/little Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:28:11 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/little http://www.wordnik.com/words/progress Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:28:05 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/progress http://www.wordnik.com/words/arms Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:28:01 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/arms http://www.wordnik.com/words/chiefly Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:27:57 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/chiefly http://www.wordnik.com/words/depend Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:27:53 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/depend http://www.wordnik.com/words/myself Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:27:48 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/myself http://www.wordnik.com/words/trust Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:27:43 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/trust http://www.wordnik.com/words/reasonably satisfactory Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:27:23 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/reasonably satisfactory http://www.wordnik.com/words/encouraging Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:27:14 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/encouraging http://www.wordnik.com/words/high hope Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:27:08 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/high hope http://www.wordnik.com/words/future Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:27:04 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/future http://www.wordnik.com/words/prediction Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:26:59 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/prediction http://www.wordnik.com/words/regard Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:26:54 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/regard http://www.wordnik.com/words/ventured Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:26:50 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/ventured http://www.wordnik.com/words/occasion Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:23:46 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/occasion http://www.wordnik.com/words/corresponding Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:23:40 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/corresponding http://www.wordnik.com/words/four years ago Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:23:25 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/four years ago http://www.wordnik.com/words/all thoughts Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:23:17 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/all thoughts http://www.wordnik.com/words/anxiously Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:23:10 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/anxiously http://www.wordnik.com/words/directed Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:23:04 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/directed http://www.wordnik.com/words/impending Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:22:59 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/impending http://www.wordnik.com/words/civil war Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:22:55 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/civil war http://www.wordnik.com/words/dreaded Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:22:49 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/dreaded http://www.wordnik.com/words/sought Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:22:44 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/sought http://www.wordnik.com/words/avert Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:22:40 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/avert http://www.wordnik.com/words/inaugural Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:22:36 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/inaugural http://www.wordnik.com/words/delivered Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:22:31 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/delivered http://www.wordnik.com/words/place Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:22:25 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/place http://www.wordnik.com/words/devoted Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:22:21 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/devoted http://www.wordnik.com/words/altogether Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:22:15 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/altogether http://www.wordnik.com/words/saving Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:22:08 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/saving http://www.wordnik.com/words/union Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:22:03 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/union http://www.wordnik.com/words/war Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:21:59 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/war http://www.wordnik.com/words/insurgent Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:21:53 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/insurgent http://www.wordnik.com/words/agents Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:21:49 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/agents http://www.wordnik.com/words/city Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:21:43 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/city http://www.wordnik.com/words/seeking to destroy Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:21:39 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/seeking to destroy http://www.wordnik.com/words/dissolve Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:21:31 +0000 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18:20:05 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/let it perish http://www.wordnik.com/words/the war came Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:19:58 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/the war came http://www.wordnik.com/words/whole Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:19:52 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/whole http://www.wordnik.com/words/population Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:19:49 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/population http://www.wordnik.com/words/colored Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:19:45 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/colored http://www.wordnik.com/words/slaves Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:19:41 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/slaves http://www.wordnik.com/words/distributed Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:19:36 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/distributed http://www.wordnik.com/words/localized Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:19:30 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/localized http://www.wordnik.com/words/southern Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:19:26 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/southern http://www.wordnik.com/words/constituted Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:19:22 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http://www.wordnik.com/words/object http://www.wordnik.com/words/rend Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:18:37 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/rend http://www.wordnik.com/words/government Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:18:33 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/government http://www.wordnik.com/words/claimed Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:18:29 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/claimed http://www.wordnik.com/words/no right Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:18:26 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/no right http://www.wordnik.com/words/restrict Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:18:21 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/restrict http://www.wordnik.com/words/territorial Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:18:18 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/territorial http://www.wordnik.com/words/enlargement Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:18:13 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/enlargement