extract from newton bateman's lecture on

lincoln with variants of the farewell

address, at springfield,

february 11, 1861.

both for its own value as an incident in the life of mr. lincoln and because it affords us opportunity of understanding the accuracy of newton bateman's verbal memory, the following is quoted from his lecture on abraham lincoln, a lecture delivered many times in the later years of his life and printed by his family in 1899 after his death:

"on the eleventh of february, 1861, on the day preceding his fifty-second birthday, mr. lincoln set out for washington. he had sent special invitations to a few of his old friends to accompany him as far as indianapolis. that i was included in the number, i shall be pardoned for remembering with peculiar pleasure. that note of invitation is preserved among my most cherished memorabilia of abraham lincoln. i shall ever regret that imperative official duties would not allow me to join the party.

"but i accompanied him to the railroad station, and stood by his side on the platform of the car, when he delivered that memorable farewell to his friends and neighbors. of those, an immense concourse had assembled to bid him good-by. the day was dark and chill, and a drizzling rain had set in. the signal bell had rung, and all was in readiness for the departure, when mr. lincoln appeared on the front platform of the special car—removed his hat, looked out for a moment upon the sea of silent, upturned faces, and heads bared in loving reverence and sympathy, regardless of the rain; and, in a voice broken and tremulous with emotion and a most unutterable sadness, yet slow and measured and distinct and with a certain prophetic far-off look which no one who saw can ever forget, began:

[pg 304]

"'my friends, no one, not in my position can appreciate the sadness i feel at this parting. to this people i owe all that i am. here i have lived more than a quarter of a century. here my children were born, and here one of them lies buried. i know not how soon i shall see you again. a duty devolves upon me which is greater, perhaps, than that which has devolved upon any other man since the days of washington. he never would have succeeded, except for the aid of divine providence, upon which he at all times relied. i feel that i cannot succeed without the same divine aid which sustained him; and upon the same almighty being i place my reliance and support. and i hope you, my friends, will pray that i may receive that divine assistance, without which i cannot succeed, and with which success is certain. again, i bid you all an affectionate farewell.'

"his pale face was literally wet with tears as he re-entered the car, and the train rolled out of the city, which abraham lincoln was to enter no more—till, his great work finished he would come back from the war, a victor and a conqueror though with the seal of death upon his visage. some politicians derided the solemn words of that farewell—but i knew they were the utterances of his inmost soul—never did speech of man move me as that did. seeing every mournful tremor of those lips—noting every shadow that flitted over that face—catching every inflection of that voice—the words seemed to drop, every one, into my heart, and to be crystallized in my memory. i hurried back to my office, locked the door (for i felt that i must be alone), wrote out the address from memory and had it published in the city papers in advance of the reporters. and when the reports of the stenographers were published, they differed from mine in only two or three words, and as to even those, i have always believed that mine were right for the speech was engraved on my heart and my memory, and i had but to copy the engraving."—abraham lincoln, an address by hon. newton bateman, ll.d., published by the cadmus club, 1899, galesburg.

mr. lincoln's farewell address, as given by mr. bateman in the foregoing quotation, would appear to have undergone some revision by him after its printing. he says that he furnished it to the press and that it came out in advance of the version taken down by the reporter. on this point his memory appears to be correct. the illinois state journal of february 12, 1861, con[pg 305]tains a report of mr. lincoln's address, which is almost certainly that furnished by mr. bateman.

lincoln's farewell address as printed in the illinois state

journal, february 12, 1860, probably from the notes of hon.

newton bateman.

"friends, no one who has never been placed in a like position, can understand my feelings at this hour, nor the oppressive sadness i feel at this parting. for more than a quarter of a century i have lived among you, and during all that time i have received nothing but kindness at your hands. here i have lived from my youth until now i am an old man. here the most sacred ties of earth were assumed; here all of my children were born, and here one of them lies buried. to you, dear friends, i owe all that i have, all that i am. all the strange, checkered past seems now to crowd upon my mind. today i leave you: i go to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved upon general washington. unless the great god who assisted him shall be with me and aid me, i must fail. but if the same omniscient mind and the same almighty arm that directed and protected him shall guide and support me, i shall not fail; i shall succeed. let us all pray that the god of our fathers may not forsake us now. to him i commend you all; permit me to ask that with equal sincerity [the word is printed security but corrected with pen] and faith, you all will invoke his wisdom and guidance for me. with these few words i must leave you—for how long i know not. friends, one and all, i must now bid you an affectionate farewell."

the so-called shorthand report

the so-called shorthand report appears on close examination not to be a shorthand report, but is that which appeared in the chicago and other papers from the hay and lincoln revision, more or less garbled in telegraphic transmission.

the lincoln-hay version of the farewell address

"this address was correctly printed for the first time in the century magazine for december, 1887, from the original manuscript, having been written down after the train started, partly[pg 306] by mr. lincoln's own hand and partly by that of his private secretary from his dictation."—nicolay and hay, life of lincoln, ii, 291.

it is thus apparent that we do not have any verbatim report of the precise words which lincoln uttered; but the illinois historical society has accepted this as the accredited version. it is certainly that which lincoln wished to be remembered as having said; but it is quite possible that in one or two of the variant words bateman may have recalled it more accurately than lincoln himself:

"my friends: no one not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. to this place, and the kindness of these people, i owe everything. here i have lived a quarter of a century and have passed from a youth to an old man. here my children have been born and one is buried. i now leave, not knowing when or whether ever i may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon washington. without the assistance of that divine being who ever attended him, i cannot succeed. with that assistance i cannot fail. trusting in him, who can go with me and remain with you and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. to his care commending you, as i hope in your prayers you will commend me, i bid you an affectionate farewell."

[pg 307]