A Man of the People Part 54

"He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat!

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat: Oh! Be swift my soul to answer Him! Be jubilant my feet!

Our G.o.d is marching on!"

STANTON

That draft will be all right, Stevens! Now all together!

[STANTON _leads and all sing._]

[LINCOLN _listens with bowed head._]

We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more, From Mississippi's winding stream and from New England's sh.o.r.e; We leave our plows and workshop, our wives and children dear, With hearts too full for utterance, with but a single tear, We dare not look behind us but steadfastly before, We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more!

CHORUS

We are coming, we are coming, our Union to restore!

We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more, We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more!

LINCOLN

And remember, gentlemen, U. S. Grant sent Sherman on that mission. You know I didn't remove him! Well, Raymond, what say you, now!

RAYMOND

It's glorious. It's a miracle! Lee's army can't survive. The end is sure! McClellan is beaten--the Union is saved!

LINCOLN

What say you all?

A COMMITTEEMAN

Your triumph is sure!

ANOTHER COMMITTEEMAN

You'll sweep the nation, sir!

NICOLAY

Three cheers for the old President and three cheers for the new!

ALL

Lincoln! Lincoln! Lincoln!

[_All join except_ STEVENS, _whose face remains a mask._]

LINCOLN

Come on, Stevens, smile! Take a chance. It may kill you, but my Lord, man, take a chance!

STEVENS

You're not elected yet, sir--and such levity ill becomes a Nation's Chief in these tragic hours----

LINCOLN

[_Laughs._]

If I couldn't laugh I'd have died long ago at this job!

CURTAIN

EPILOGUE

SET SCENE: _The great pillars of the Capitol at Was.h.i.+ngton fill the entire stage from arch to arch. In the foreground stands the platform on which the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, headed by Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice, are grouped about the President, who is delivering his Second Inaugural._ JOHN VAUGHAN _beside_ BETTY WINTER _is conspicuously leading the applause._

AT RISE: _The President is reading his Inaugural. A great burst of cheering follows the sentence he is closing before the curtain rises:_

LINCOLN

[_Before rise._]

Shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living G.o.d always ascribe to Him?

[_Applause as curtain rises._]

Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pa.s.s away. Yet, if G.o.d wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman'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."

[_Applause._]

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as G.o.d 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 all nations.

[_Fade out with the light on Lincoln's face as he utters the last word._]

CURTAIN