Lincoln’s Wisest Advice – And The Most Difficult

Undated (filed under 1980)
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Lincoln’s Wisest Advice – And The Most Difficult

[Editor’s note: as evidenced by many sentence fragments, this sermon was either unfinished or given with considerable latitude for extemporaneous speaking]

PBK – Wm & Mary 1944
Sandburg’s Poem:

When Sandburg read his poem, much of the world was exploding, bleeding, and dying in the eruptions of WW2. Sandburg was expressing both the pain and determination of that fractured time. But he went beyond that by going back to Abraham Lincoln. As a preface to his poem, he quoted these lines from President Lincoln’s message to Congress, December 1, 1862:

...

We must disenthrall ourselves. To me those four words embody Lincoln’s wisest advice and the most difficult – difficult to understand, painful to believe, agonizing to follow.

I would like to speak of the context of “we must disenthrall ourselves”, the choice of the word “disenthrall”, then attempt to discuss this advice in the context of our times.

The burdens President Lincoln carried were heavy beyond reckoning. The fratricidal war had exacted deaths and wounds unaccepted and unhealed in the ensuing century. Lincoln’s unwavering goal was the preservation of the Republic, to bring it unto union again. He had withheld the Emancipation Proclamation because he had to be sure in his own convictions that it would aid, not deter that.

In Lincoln’s message to Congress, December 1, 1862, he discussed union, slavery, the black slaves. He still sought compromise and time on the issue of slavery. He had on prior occasions accepted the idea of providing for the colonization of slaves in other continents, Africa, particularly. His “concrete proposal, the Constitution of the United States to be amended to provide that every state which abolished slavery at any time before January 1, 1900 should be paid for its freed slaves in U.S. bonds at a rate of interest and in sums to be agreed for each slave. Congress would be given express power to set aside money and otherwise provide for colonizing freed slaves,” making the succinct comment, “without slavery the rebellion could never have existed; without slavery it could not continue.”

“As to sending freed Negroes out of the country, he made his view clear again. ‘I cannot make it better known than it already is, that I strongly favor colonization. And yet I wish to say there is an objection urged against free colored persons remaining in the country, which is largely imaginary, if not sometimes malicious.’ Then he added gravely, ‘In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and eternity.’”

Then his reminder “the dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves.”

Then in the last paragraph of this message, he wrote, “Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this Administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.” (Sandburg 225 ff)

[CJW note: little or no response – month late 1/1/1863 – Emancipation Proclamation]

One of the treasures we possess from the past is the wisdom and judgment of the great spiritual prophets – and Lincoln was one of these – is that [sic] although they spoke to their generation about their times and issues, the wisdom has such depth and universality that persons of any time can be inspired, improved, and guided.

Consider “disenthrall”. The word is from “thrall” which originally (OE) was a bondsman – virtually a slave, a serf – one held in bondage. “Enthrall” later meant to be captivated ... to be held spellbound.
Do we need to be disenthralled? Most of us [are] in bonds to certain ideas or habits. Most of us could write a book on habits and hangups to which we are enthralled. [I am] not considering that today. In these days of the gathering clouds of war, what enthralls us – the brief and capsulated news on the tube which may give us a measure of who, what, when, and how – but seldom, if ever, “why?”

Think of Sandburg’s lines:

“Make your wit a guard and cover ... sing low, sing high, sing wide. Let your laughter come free remembering looking toward peace: “we must disenthrall ourselves”

Wit and humor can help. I’m thinking of two cartoons. One from the Wall Street Journal shows a man and woman on their porch gazing at the starry evening. He says, “If life does exist out there, I hope it’s not life as we know it.”

The second cartoon from The New Yorker magazine shows a middle-aged couple sitting on the sofa, looking at the TV, where the screen is displaying a new automobile, “All new for 1980.” The man on the couch says, “You know something? I’m already sick of the 80s.”

This wit illustrates the unrest and dis-ease which troubles many of us and I hope will trouble many more. It is not a malaise, as President Carter indicated, but, I hope, the beginning of disenthralling ourselves.

James Taylor, using some computer studies (Context 2/1/80), “There may be no 1990s. If present arms trends continue, World War III will begin between 1988 and 1998.” He goes on, “At the moment, [the] USA could wipe out the USSR 50 times, and the USSR could take care of the U.S. 25 times. The stockpiles grow by 3 nuclear bombs a day. Around the world, there is one soldier for every 250 people, but only one physician for every 3700.”

Barbara Ward “expenditures of 2½ hours of military spending around the world would provide clean water supplies for the whole world.” Her negative critics say not so – 3 days of military spending would be needed.

We must disenthrall ourselves.

Sandburg - “There is dust alive - ”

Think – the old timetables are torn. Thinking is not encouraged by those who believe they know better than we do. Remember Julius Caesar:

“Let me have men about me that are fat;
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o' nights:
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.”

“Dreams of the human family flung wide on a shrinking globe”

“A shrinking glove – between 1945 and 1960, 800 million people won their independence from white colonial powers.”

Sandburg “the earth laughs -

Looking toward peace!

Peace – when the sabers are rattling, when the blank checks for war are being signed, when the population is being whipped up. [CJW notes: War to end war? Issawi’s law of progress – a shortcut is the longest distance between two points. Save the world for democracy.]

I shall stand for peace. What could possibly be gained by nuclear war? Never a wise harvest. Many will be enthralled by the prospect of patriotic gore. Erich Fromm (PSYCHOANALYSIS AND RELIGION) wrote, “once a doctrine, however irrational, has gained power in a society, millions of people will believe it rather than feel ostracized and isolated.”

Nevertheless, we must disenthrall ourselves. [CJW notes: attitude change. US/USSR take similar stands. The UN – a handcuffed power (sovereignty). International law. Mediation serv. - would have been in Tehran – Philippines proposed, US opposed. International criminal ct – would have been investigated long ago. International CT of justice – except for Connally. Reservation – Iran’s dispute could have been ...]

Let me conclude with Robert Frost, “Riders” (p. 267)