[This is the last sentence of a speech made by Abraham Lincoln a few weeks before his death. The Civil War was nearly over, and Lincoln had just been made President for a second term.]
With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on, to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation"s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
Abraham Lincoln.
Author.-Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), sixteenth President of the United States, is one of the heroes of the American people. He was mainly responsible for the preservation of the Union and for the abolition of slavery. He died by the hand of a demented assassin. Read his life: it is an inspiring record of courage, determination, and high principle.
General Notes.-This is a portion of Lincoln"s second inauguraladdress as President of the United States. Learn the piece by heart and ponder over the magnificent final phrase. How is this great aim to be achieved?