Tomorrow the United States will be celebrating the 204th birthday of President Abraham Lincoln, but today The Adamist reminds us the beginning of Lincoln’s Presidency.
It was cold and rainy on this day over 152 years ago in Springfield, Illinois; elections have ended and the newly elected President, Abraham Lincoln must now leave his hometown to the conflicting and torn Capital of the United States, Washington D.C.. For many who do not know but by this time of his leaving seven states had already left the Union. Lincoln was (in this blogger’s humble opinion) unsure of what would happen.
Lincoln gave one final speech to those who gathered around the two-car private train that would take him. He said:
Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young man 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… I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail… To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.
The irony of it all, was this was the last time Lincoln would see Springfield in his lifetime. I cannot imagine the emotions he felt as he left the place he knew as home. We forget sometimes that each of these important people in our country’s history were just ordinary human beings who sacrificed things we never would do. I can say most likely Lincoln would have rather stayed in Springfield amid his books, law-firm, and citizens of Springfield.
One cannot know what he felt or thought at the moment he spoke those words, we can only relate and humble to sacrifice he made. It is said by one eye-witness to this occasion that Lincoln’s “beast heaved with emotions and he could scarcely command his feelings”. For his farewell to Springfield was the beginning of his struggles to hold a nation.
The Adamsist 