Don't Know Much

Who Said It? (2/29/2016)

...until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword...

Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural (March 4, 1865) Photo Courtesy of the Library of C0ngress

Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural (March 4, 1865) Photo Courtesy of the Library of C0ngress

President Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address (March 4, 1865)

 Fondly do we 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 unrequited 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.” 

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 lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. 

Source and complete text: The Avalon Project-Yale University

The Latest From My Blog

The Month That Changed The World: July 16-August 15, 1945

As the world approaches the 80th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs in August 1945, this post offers a day-by-day timeline of the momentous events that led to the end of the war

Read More

The World in Books: A Year of Reading–Wisely

“The World in Books”: “A wealth of succinct, entertaining advice.” (Kirkus) Available in paperback October 2025

Read More