The Mighty Scourge of War: Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
By Editorial Staff
Published April 4, 2008
By Stephen B. Oates
On the morning of March 4, 1865, heavy clouds moved over Washington, ranking the capital with tails of rain. At noon Lincoln made the traditional carriage ride up Pennsylvania Avenue, teeming with bands and spectators and clattering cavalry.
Ahead the new iron dome of the Capitol, crowned with a statue of liberty, moved against a somber sky. The inaugural platform stretched out from the east front of the Capitol; here Lincoln took his place, as clouds scudded across Washington’s horizon, rolling and turning in the wind. Below him, he noticed Frederick Douglass in the crowd. Behind him, on the platform and along the front of the Capitol, were various officials and spectators.
Presently Lincoln rose and stepped to the speaker’s stand; as he did so the sun broke through the clouds, flooding the entire gathering with brilliant light. Then the clouds closed in again. Lincoln began reading in “ringing and somewhat shrill tones, “said Noah Brooks, which “sounded over the vast concourse.”
It was a terse speech, succinct and lyrical, like his address at Gettysburg. Yet his words today blazed with religious eloquence as he reiterated what he’d told a delegation of Kentuckians in the darkening spring of 1864: in his search for the meaning of this vast struggle, he’d come to view it finally as a divine punishment for the sin of slavery, as a terrible retribution visited by God on a guilty people, in North as well as South.
When the war began four years ago, he sang out, neither side expected it to last as long or grow to such magnitude as it had. Neither side anticipated that slavery might perish in the flames, “that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease.”
No, Lincoln said, “each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.” And God’s perhaps was to will “this terrible war” on both North and South to remove “the offence” of slavery.
Fondly we do hope – fervently do we pray – that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.’
And if it were God’s will, the country must see this grim purgation through to its Providential conclusion, when at last both sides might be cleansed and regenerated: “With malice toward 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 his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
Lincoln turned now, took the oath from Chief Justice Salmon Chase, and kissed and open Bible. Chase noted the spot – Isaiah 5:27 and 28. “None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep … Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows are bent, their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.”
The President bowed to the cheering assembly, and an artillery salvo exploded on the wind. Then a huge procession escorted his carriage back to the White House, bleak against the clouds. Later Lincoln encountered Noah Brooks. “Did you notice that sunburst?” the President asked. “It made my heart jump.”
In a reception that evening, Lincoln stood in line in the White House, shaking hands with hundreds of well-wishers. In a moment somebody informed him that Frederick Douglass was at the front door, but that the police wouldn’t let him in “because he was a negro.” Douglass had come to congratulate Lincoln, contending that since black men were dying in battle for the Union, they had a right to come and shake the President’s hand like any other citizen: “if the colored man would have his rights,” Douglass said, “he must take them.”
Lincoln had Douglass shown in at once. “Here comes my friend Douglass,” the President announced when Douglass entered into the room. “I am glad to see you,” Lincoln told him. “I saw you in the crowd today, listening to my address.” He added, “There is no man in the country whose opinion I value more than yours. I want to know what you think of it.” Douglass said he was impressed: he thought it “a sacred effort.”
“I am glad you liked it!” Lincoln said, and he watched as Douglass passed down the line. It was the first inaugural reception in the history of the Republic in which an American President had greeted a free black man and solicited his opinion.
Forerunner - Home » The Forerunner Newspaper » History
Your comments are welcome!
Massacre of Innocence (DVD)
Exposing The Occult Roots of Abortion
This presentation looks at the spiritual roots of abortion and exposes the myths surrounding child killing. Little known historical facts about abortion and how they relate to modern feminism are presented logically and accurately. Has been effective in converting many to a pro-life position.
Massacre of Innocence goes where no pro-life presentation has gone before in “tearing the lid off abortion” to reveal the spiritual realities we must battle if we will bring an end to this crime. The presentation is absorbing, fast-paced, informative and incredibly devastating to any attempt to justify abortion.
“… an extraordinary statement … a powerfully articulate presentation about what abortion really means, and why a great and moral nation like the United States must not allow the slaughter to continue.”
— Congressman Robert K. Dornan
Running time: 85 minutes
$19.95 — ORDER NOW!
(We accept all major credit cards and PayPal.)Click here for more information
A Revival Account: Asbury 1970 (DVD)
What is true Revival and Spiritual Awakening?
Discover the answer in this eyewitness account by Dennis Kinlaw, President of Asbury College, Wilmore, Kentucky, who recounts the story of a visitation of the Holy Spirit in 1970. This is the presentation that has continued to spark the flames of Revival in the hearts of people around the world. Contains eyewitness footage from the Revival at Asbury College in 1970 in Wilmore, Kentucky.
Certain to challenge you to greater holiness and a deeper commitment to full-scale revival. Original news and private footage has been included. If you are a student who longs to see a spiritual awakening at your school, you must see this video!
“This simple video does a wonderful job of conveying something of God’s heart and power, Everyone we have ever shown this to has received an immediate impartation of faith for revival and the power of prayer.”
— Bob and Rose Weiner, Weiner Ministries Int’l
Running Time: 40 minutes
$19.95 — ORDER NOW!
(We accept all major credit cards and PayPal.)Click here for more information
Abortion Clinic 911 Calls (DVD)
Exposes the Dangers of Abortion to Women!
These shocking eyewitness accounts expose the dangers of abortion not only to unborn children, but to the health and lives women as well. An antidote to the smokescreens of the liberal media, these six short clips show what really happens in and around abortion clinics.
Although the content is emotionally gut-wrenching, these videos have been used in church seminars and small groups to educate Christians on the abortion issue and to lead people toward a pro-life position.
Watch these pro-life videos on-line.
“These videos helped change my mind from pro-choice to pro-life. Your videos are what did it for me. I will be walking in next year’s March For Life in San Francisco.” — A. Jackson, California
“I was going to have an abortion until I saw your video. Praise Jesus!”
— M. Drew, YouTube Commenter
$4.95 — ORDER NOW!
(We accept all major credit cards and PayPal.)Click here for more information
Dr. Francis Schaeffer - A Christian Manifesto (DVD)
That Swiss Hermit Strikes Again!
Dr. Schaeffer, who was one of the most influential Christian thinkers in the twentieth century, shows that secular humanism has displaced the Judeo-Christian consensus that once defined our nation’s moral boundaries. Law, education, and medicine have all been reshaped for the worse as a consequence. America’s dominant worldview changed, Schaeffer charges, when Christians weren’t looking.
Schaeffer lists two reasons for evangelical indifference: a false concept of spirituality and fear. He calls on believers to stand against the tyranny and moral chaos that come when humanism reigns-and warns that believers may, at some point, be forced to make the hard choice between obeying God or Caesar. A Christian Manifesto is a thought-provoking and bracing Christian analysis of American culture and the obligation Christians have to engage the culture with the claims of Christ.
$19.95 — ORDER NOW!
(We accept all major credit cards and PayPal.)Click here for more information
Freedom: The Model of Christian Liberty (DVD)
“Give me liberty or give me death!”
Patrick Henry’s famous declaration not only helped launch the War for Independence, it also perfectly summarized the mindset that gave birth to, and sustained, the unprecedented experiment in Christian liberty that was America.
The freedom our Founders envisioned was not freedom from suffering, want, or hard work. Nor was it freedom to indulge every appetite or whim without restraint—that would merely be servitude to a different master. No, the Founders’ passion was to live free before God, unfettered by the chains of autocracy, shackles that slowly but inexorably bind men when the governments they fashion fail to recognize and uphold freedom’s singular, foundational truth: that all men are created in the image of God, and are thereby co-equally endowed with the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
This presentation is a similar call, not to one but many. By reintroducing the principles of freedom that gave birth to America, it is our prayer that Jesus, the true and only ruler over the nations, will once again be our acknowledged Sovereign, that we may again know and exult in the great truth that “where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17).
Welcome to the Second American Revolution!
This DVD features “Liberty: The Model of Christian Liberty” along with “Dawn’s Early Light: A Brief History of America’s Christian Foundations.” Bonus features include a humorous but instructive collection of campaign ads and Eric Holmberg’s controversial YouTube challenge concerning Mitt Romney’s campaign for president.
$14.95 — ORDER NOW!
(We accept all major credit cards and PayPal.)
