Trabajo Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Lowell THERE have been many painful crises since the impatientvanity of South Carolina hurried ten prosperous Commonwealthsinto a crime whose assured retribution was to leavethemeither at the mercy of the nation they had wronged, or of theanarchy they had summoned but could not control, when nothoughtful American opened his morning paper without dreadingto find that he had nolonger a country to love and honor.Whatever the result of the convulsion whose first shocks werebeginning to be felt, there would still be enough squaremiles of earth for elbow-room; but thatineffable sentimentmade up of memory and hope, of instinct and tradition, whichswells every man's heart and shapes his thought, thoughperhaps never present to his consciousness, would be gonefrom it, leavingit common earth and nothing more. Men mightgather rich crops from it, but that ideal harvest ofpriceless associations would be reaped no longer; that finevirtue which sent up messages of courage andsecurity fromevery sod of it would have evaporated beyond recall. Weshould be irrevocably cut off from our past, and be forced tosplice the ragged ends of our lives upon whatever newconditions chancemight leave dangling for us. We confessthat we had our doubts at first whether the patriotism of ourpeople were not too narrowly provincial to embrace theproportions of national peril. We felt an onlytoo naturaldistrust of immense public meetings and enthusiastic cheers.That a reaction should follow the holiday enthusiasm withwhich the war was entered on, that it should follow soon, andthat theslackening of public spirit should be proportionateto the previous over-tension, might well be foreseen by allwho had studied human nature or history. Men actinggregariously are always in extremes; asthey are one momentcapable of higher courage, so they are liable, the next, tobaser depression, and it is often a matter of chance whethernumbers shall multiply confidence or discouragement. Nordoes...