Conflicting stories still pass
current in books and articles on Lincoln about its composition, and
original reception. An examination of the testimony shows that the
following facts may be accepted as fairly proved. The greater part of
the address was written in Washington after very careful preparation,
and profound reflection. The address was read from MS., but with some
variations that apparently occurred to the speaker at the time of
delivery. Mr. Everett did not clasp the President's hand while he
expressed a willingness to exchange his hundred pages for the twenty
lines just read. It is uncertain whether Lincoln said at the time that
the address did not "scour," but if he did use such an expression it
was not because of a consciousness of having failed to make adequate
preparation for the occasion.

One of the best commentaries on the Second Inaugural Address appeared
in an article in the London _Spectator_: "We cannot read it without a
renewed conviction that it is the noblest political document known to
history, and should have for the nation and the statesmen he left
behind him something of a sacred and almost prophetic character." Carl
Schurz compared it to a sacred poem, and all discriminating readers
agree in placing it by the side of the Gettysburg Address as an almost
perfect specimen of pure English prose.

The other addresses of the presidential period are, with the exception
of the last speech, on the reconstruction of Louisiana, of minor
importance. They consist in the main of responses to serenades, a form
of address which Lincoln cordially detested and in which as a rule he
achieved only a moderate degree of success. The cares of his great
office made such cruel demands upon his time and strength that he
declined many requests to speak in public, and whenever he did appear
he confined his remarks within the smallest possible limits.
Furthermore, Lincoln was not a reader speaker and rarely did himself
justice without careful preparation. Writers on Lincoln have failed to
note the severe criticisms upon Lincoln's impromptu remarks that
appeared in the opposition press and in the English newspapers. Even
as late as 1863 newspaper writers not opposed to him did not hesitate
to refer to the plainness of the President's public speaking.

The Messages to Congress are distinguished from most documents of that
class by their frequent purple patches. To the enumeration of dry
facts furnished by