Lincoln Encomium

by Elijah Pointer, Grade 12

Abraham Lincoln, elected 16th president of the United States and disputably hailed as the Great Emancipator, may or may not have been truly worthy of that laudation he received, but that will be of little significance in this essay. Instead, I’m here to say that he sure could speak goodly.

As a child, Lincoln grew up dirt poor on the frontier. Both of his parents were illiterate, but that did not stop him from teaching himself to read. It is because of this that I believe his rhetorical abilities are so unique; he developed his own elevated style of speaking, combining gravity with wit. With nearly every speech, Lincoln captivates his audience. The educated are amazed at the sheer grandeur of his words, and even the not-so-educated, such as myself, are still mesmerized, yet perhaps unintentionally so, for I am often left staring at the same sentence for several seconds because I failed to understand it the first time.

Instead of channeling this talent into causing mischief and strife, Lincoln used his speaking abilities to slowly gain political prominence to the point where he became the president of the United States, where above all else, he sought to preserve the Union. Regardless of whether he had the right to enact certain things during the Civil War, — he basically started out as a farm boy and then became president, so cut him some slack — he tried to do what he thought was best and use his words for the sake of attaining peace. This is very much unlike the prophet Balaam, who attempted to use his gift of speech to cause discord and curse Israel so the king of Moab could conquer them in battle; it should be no surprise to hear that he was foiled in his maledictive machinations.

Like Lincoln, may we be wary of what we say and use our words to build others up and seek peace rather than furthering strife. “The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them. The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.” Proverbs 12:6-7

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