The Times of London:

The ceremony was rendered ludicrous by some of the sallies of that poor President.

The Harrisburg Patriot and Union:

We pass over the silly remarks of the President; for the credit of the nation, we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they shall no more be repeated or thought of.

The former President of Harvard University:

I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours, as you did in two minutes.

All commenting on Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address."As I move to the end of Ronald C. White's magnificent new biography, A. Lincoln, one reads on in awe and dread.

Robert P. Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, is a longtime Commonweal contributor.

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