On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, at 4:30 pm Eastern Time (US), Professor Diana Schaub will be speaking with us at a Casual Conversation. Professor Schaub, who teaches at Loyola University of Maryland (just a few miles down Charles Street from where I live), has written a book on three of Abraham Lincoln’s speeches: address before the Springfield Lyceum in 1838, The Gettysburg Address in November 1863 and The Second Inaugural Address in March 1865: His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved the Nation, St. Martin's Press (November 23, 2021), ISBN-13: 978-1250763457.
I have begun her book, and it is an exquisite treatment of Lincoln’s words entwined with his actions. Although only about 200 pages long (Lincoln’s speeches are known for their brevity), her analysis is rich with understanding. I came across her book through this review by Tim Rice in Real Clear Books: https://www.realclearbooks.com/articles/2022/01/25/lincoln_on_the_cause_of_our_present_discontents_813663.html .
Rice completes his review thusly:
“Lincoln ends his Lyceum Address by calling for Americans to cultivate ‘general intelligence, sound morality, and, in particular, a reverence for the constitution and laws.’ These ‘pillars of the temple of liberty,’ he knew, could be constructed only through robust civic education. With ‘His Greatest Speeches’, Diana Schaub invites citizens and statesmen to learn the lessons Lincoln taught – and preserve the country for which he gave the last full measure of devotion.”
I know that many of our classmates are students of the Civil War and are fully conversant with the struggle of the two great armies arrayed in battle across our one Nation. And, further, that many of us admire Abraham Lincoln. To a better appreciation of Lincoln: his beliefs, his craft in expressing them, and his skill in bringing our people to battle for a country free and united in liberty for all its citizens, I invite you to join Professor Schaub for an enlightening discussion on Tuesday, March 29 at 4:30 pm.
As always, please RSVP to me at arthur.fergenson@ansalaw.com by close of business on the Friday preceding, to wit, March 25.
Arthur