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UID:1970@westcusterlibrary.org
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20250417T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20250417T120000
DTSTAMP:20250418T134713Z
URL:https://www.westcusterlibrary.org/events/join-the-directed-discussion-
 on-lincolns-second-inaugural-address/
SUMMARY:Join the Directed Discussion on Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
DESCRIPTION:Karl Walling PhD. will employ the Socratic method to lead a Dir
 ected Discussion on Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address.   Please come pr
 epared to discuss the address.  Registration is required.\n\nFellow-Count
 rymen:\n\nAt this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential of
 fice there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the 
 first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seeme
 d fitting and proper. Now\, at the expiration of four years\, during which
  public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and 
 phase of this great conflict which is of primary concern to the nation as 
 a whole\, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms\
 , upon which all else chiefly depends\, is as well known to the public as 
 to myself\, and it is\, I trust\, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging 
 to all. With high hope for the future\, no prediction in regard to it is v
 entured.\n\nOn the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoug
 hts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it\, al
 l sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from
  this place\, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war\, insurge
 nt agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to 
 dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties depreca
 ted war\, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation surviv
 e\, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war 
 came.\n\nOne-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves\, not dist
 ributed generally over the Union\, but localized in the southern part of i
 t. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew tha
 t this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen\, perpetua
 te\, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents woul
 d rend the Union even by war\, while the Government claimed no right to do
  more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party ex
 pected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already atta
 ined. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with 
 or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier
  triumph\, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the sam
 e Bible and pray to the same God\, and each invokes His aid against the ot
 her. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s as
 sistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces\, b
 ut 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 Hi
 s own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offenses\; for it must ne
 eds be that offenses come\, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh
 .” If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses wh
 ich\, in the providence of God\, must needs come\, but which\, having cont
 inued through His appointed time\, He now wills to remove\, and that He gi
 ves to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by w
 hom the offense came\, shall we discern therein any departure from those d
 ivine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him
 ? Fondly do we hope\, fervently do we pray\, that this mighty scourge of w
 ar may speedily pass away. Yet\, if God wills that it continue until all t
 he wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequi
 ted 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 thousan
 d years ago\, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are tr
 ue and righteous altogether.”\n\nWith malice toward none\, with charity 
 for all\, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right\, le
 t us strive on to finish the work we are in\, to bind up the nation’s wo
 unds\, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow a
 nd his orphan\, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting
  peace among ourselves and with all nations.
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CATEGORIES:Adults
LOCATION:West Custer County Library Community Room\, 209 Main St\, Westclif
 fe\, CO\, United States
GEO:38.136419;-105.467999
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 CO\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=West Custer County Library C
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